A lot of Myths + Places
What is the River Styx?
The River Styx was the passageway from the over world to the underworld.
[Achilles] Is he a god or a mortal? What is he best known for?
Achilles was mostly immortal, except for one spot on his heel where his mother held him when she dipped him in a river for immortality. Achilles was best known for his fighting skills and his "Achilles heel".
[Perseus] Who does he kill? What does he use the head of his victim for?
He killed Medusa and used her head to turn his enemies to stone.
What are the Gorgons?
The Gorgons were women with the hair of snakes, that would turn people to stone when they looked into their eyes.
Who was Uranus?
He was the personification of the sky, he was the sky, and he was the father to the titans.
What is the underworld? Who rules it?
The underworld was were all of the bad souls ended up. Hades rules it.
[Sisyphus & Tantalus] What do they have in common? What was Tantalus' crime? How was his punishment similar to his crime? What words derive from this myth?
They both disrespected the gods. Tantalus' crime was trying to feed his own son to the gods. His punishment was that he had plentiful food in front of him, however, when he would go to eat it, it would move away, leaving him hungry and thirsty for eternity. This is similar because they both relate to food and torment. The word "Tantalize" means tease, and "Sisyphean" meaning something impossible.
[Phaeton] What does he drive? What happened to him while driving it? What does this seek to explain?
He was granted his one wish of a chariot wielding the heat of the sun. He was struck down by Zeus while driving because he would have killed all of the Greeks. The story says he fell over the Sahara which is why it is now a desert. The story explains the nature of deserts and different biomes of the world.
What is a Pegasus?
A Pegasus was a magical horse with wings.
Who was Zeus and what area did he control?
Zeus was the god of lighting and thunder, he was the king of Mount Olympus. He was the middle child of the titan Cronus, who he made throw up his siblings.
[Daphne] Is she a god or a Mortal? What does she turn into?
[Narcissus & Echo] What parts of nature does the myth explain? What parts of human nature does Narcissus explain? Why couldn't he be with his love? What does Echo do the supports his Narcissus' belief in his reflection
This myth explains echo's in nature. The myth explains narcissism in human nature. Narcissus couldn't be with his love because his love was his reflection. Echo was cursed to only be able to repeat what other people had said, so when he said "I love you" to his reflection, she responded with "I love you". This enforced his idea of his reflection being real.
[Arachne] Who did Arachne have a contest with? What animal was she associated with?
Arachne had a contest with Athena after bragging about how her sowing skills were better than Athena's. She was associated with a spider because she was turned into one by Athena
What is a Centaur?
A Centaur is a half horse half man, with the legs and body of a horse, with the upper body of man.
Who was Gaea?
Gaea was the personification of the earth, she was the earth. She was married to Uranus, who she later teamed up with her son Cronus to take down Uranus after he was brutal to his kids.
[Orpheus] Was he a god or mortal? What was he known for?
He was a mortal. He was best known for playing his lyre.
[Hestia] What is she the goddes of?
Hestia was the goddess of the hearth, home, architecture, domesticity, family, and the state.
[Oedipus] How did the Sphinx challenge him? What was his fate? Can he change it? What is the "Oedipus Complex"?
The Sphinx challenged Oedipus by giving him a riddle that if he answered correctly, he would be allowed to pass. He answered correctly and the Sphinx killed herself. His fate was that he would kill his father and marry his mom. He could not change this fate. The "Oedipus Complex" is that when someone is driven to hate their parent of the same gender, and fall in love with the parent of the opposite gender (mostly about the kids unaware of who their parents are).
What was the Hydra? What made it hard to kill? Who killed it?
The Hydra was a three headed serpent. It's head, once cut off, would regenerate with two more in it's place. Hercules was able to kill the Hydra by using a torch to cauterize it's head so it couldn't grow back.
Who was Hades, what did he rule over?
Hades was the god of the underworld, he ruled over the underworld and the souls that were condemned to it. He was the eldest brother of the three sons of Cronus.
[Hercules] How many labors did he undertake? What were these labors? Why did he have undertake them?
Hercules had to undertake 12 labors. They were, the slaying of the Nemean lion, the slaying of the nine-headed Hydra of Lerna; the capture of the elusive stag of Arcadia; the capture of the wild boar of Mount Erymanthus; the cleansing, in a single day, of the cattle stables of King Augeas of Elis; the shooting of the monstrous man-eating birds of the Stymphalian marshes; the capture of the mad bull that terrorized the island of Crete; the capture of the man-eating mares of King Diomedes of the Bistones; the taking of the girdle of Hippolyte, queen of the Amazons; the seizing of the cattle of the three-bodied giant Geryon, who ruled the island Erytheia in the far west; the bringing back of the golden apples kept at the world’s end by the Hesperides; and the fetching up from the underworld of the triple-headed dog Cerberus, guardian of its gates.
[Jason] Was he a god or mortal? What is the ship name that he sails on? What is the name of the crew? What other famous heroes are on the ship?
Jason was a mortal. The name of his ship was the Argo, and his crew were called the Argonauts. Hercules was on the ship as well as Orpheus.
What did Prometheus steal? Who did he give it to? What was his punishment?
Prometheus stole fire form the gods and gave it to the mortals. Zeus punished him by chaining him to a rock and sending an eagle to eat his liver out. He would regenerate his liver so his punishment was eternal.
What was the Sphinx? What did she look like? What did she ask travelers? What was the answer?
The Sphinx was a creature with the body of a lion, head of a woman and wings of an eagle. She asked travelers a riddle and if they answered correctly they would be allowed to pass. the riddle was, "What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three in the evening?". The answer was man, as a baby man crawls on all fours, as a man he walks on two legs, and as an old man he walks with a cane. The only person to get the riddle right was Oedipus, causing the Sphinx to throw herself of a cliff.
Who was Cronus? What did he do to his father? Why is this later ironic?
Cronus was one of the titans of Uranus. He had castrated Uranus after he had treated him poorly. Cronus then later ate his children because he was told they were to overthrow him one day. Zeus, not eaten, gave Cronus a stone to eat that would make him throw-up his kids.