Transcript The ABC`s Of Greek Mythology

The ABC’s Of Greek
Mythology
By: Emma M
Mythology
Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes
Edith Hamilton
A is for Achilles
o He was the hero of the Greeks, their
greatest warrior
o Had special armor that’s said to be
impenetrable, in it he killed the Trojan
warrior Hector
o Killed by being shot in the heel by Prince
Philoctetes, the arrow was guided by
Apollo
o His mother didn’t fully soak his heel in the
river of Styx, making his heel vulnerable
B is for Bacchus
(Dionysus)
God of The Vine, Wine, Grapes
Born of Zeus and Theban princess Semele
Semele saw Zeus in his full form of god of Heaven and
Lord of the Thunderbolt. The beauty of Zeus killed her
but right before she died Zeus took Dionysus out of her
womb and placed him in his side to finish growing
Found on a pirate ship one day, nobody but one
believed he was a god and must be set free. The ship
wouldn’t move so the crew went to set Dionysus free.
Dionysus turned into a lion, the crew jumped overboard
and he turned them into dolphins.
C is for Cronus
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Son of Mother Earth and Father Heaven
Father Heaven had maltreated the
Cyclops. Mother Earth was angry so she
called on the Titans to help her injure
Father Heaven. Cronus was the only one
who was brave enough to help her.
Cronus injured Father Heaven and out of
his blood came The Giants and The Furies
D is for Demeter
Demeter is the goddess of Corn and The Harvest
Demeter’s Roman name is Ceres
Demeter had a daughter named Persephone whom
she loved very much. One day Persephone was
kidnapped by Hades, the God of the Underworld.
Before Demeter went to get Persephone back Hades
fed her a pomegranate seed, forcing her to return to
the Underworld for 4 months each year.
E is for Eris and the Apple of
Discord
Eris is the evil Goddess of Discord
Not very well liked by the other gods and wasn't
invited to things like parties
Always causing trouble- threw a golden apple
marked “for the fairest” into the banquet hall at
King Peleus and the sea nymph Thetis’ wedding.
Goddesses all wanted to be given the apple.
Went to royal prince Paris who gave the apple to
Aphrodite in exchange for the fairest woman in
all the land, Helen.
F is for Father Heaven and Mother
Earth
 Had multiple groups of children
– The Furies, The Cyclopes, The Giants, The Titans,
 Cyclopes – had 100 hands, 50 heads – too ugly
for Father Heaven to look at so he locked them up.
 Mother Earth was angry at Father Heaven for the
maltreatment of their children. She called on the
Titan Cronus who helped Mother Earth injure
Father Heaven
G is for Greeks
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Were the opposing Army of the Trojans in the
Trojan War
2 best warriors – Achilles and Odysseus did not
want to go to war. Odysseus pretended to go
crazy while Achilles mother dressed him up as a
woman. They were both caught and forced to go
to war.
Ended up winning the war by a sneak attack on
the Trojans in the middle of the night
H is for Hector
Hector was the Trojan’s greatest warrior
Achilles wasn’t fighting because he was
ashamed that Briseis was taken from him.
Patroclus borrowed Achilles armor but was
killed. Hector stole Achilles armor off of
Patroclus’ body
Hector was killed by Achilles, who then
proceeded to drag Hector’s dead body
around underneath his chariot
I is for Iphigenia
Iphigenia is the daughter of Agamemnon
The Greek Army was preparing to leave for war
when powerful gusts of wind began to fly. This
occurred because Artemis was angry about the
death of a rabbit. The only way Artemis was
willing to stop the winds is if Iphigenia was
sacrificed. Agamemnon was unsure of what to
do
Agamemnon eventually decided to sacrifice
Iphigenia. He got her to come by telling her she
was going to marry Achilles.
J is for Juno (Hera)
Hera is the goddess of marriage and
married women.
 Hera is Zeus’ wife and sister, she was very
jealous of every woman that Zeus fell in
love with and always punished them
greatly
 Hera also despised any of the children
bore through a woman Zeus had an affair
with. This is why she killed Hercules.

K is for King Eurystheus
He is the King of Mycenae, he is very
intelligent
 Hercules – killed his family so he went to
see a priestess, she told him he needed to
be purified so she sent him to King
Eurystheus.
 Eurystheus gave Hercules 12 large jobs
that were near to impossible to
accomplish which were called “The 12
great labors”

L is for 12 Labors of Hercules
•
•
Hercules – He went crazy and killed his wife
and three sons
In order to be purified he needed to
complete 12 difficult, near to impossible
labors. These are the first 4 of the 12…
1)
2)
3)
4)
Kill The Lion of Nemea
Go to Lerna and kill 9 headed monster with 1 immortal head
Bring a live, golden horned stag back to Artemis
Capture the great boar on Mt. Erymanthus
•
Even though Hercules completed all 12, he
wasn’t ever tranquil or at ease
M is For Menelaus
 Many men wanted to marry Helen,
only one would be chosen. Menelaus
was chosen
 Everyone wanted to be Helen’s
husband so they all swore to protect
Helen’s new husband
 Paris the Trojan, came and stole
Helen away, this was the cause of the
Trojan War
N is For Neptune (Poseidon)
Neptune is the Greek God of the sea
Neptune is the brother of Zeus and
Hades and he is one of the 12 great
Olympians
He is very destructive and powerful,
He is usually seen carrying his
trident.
O is for The 12 Great Olympians
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Zeus – God of Sky, Thunderbolt
Hera – Goddess of marriage and married women
Poseidon – God of The Sea
Hades – God of The Underworld
Athena – Goddess of War
Apollo - God of Light and Truth
Artemis – Goddess of Wild Things
Aphrodite – Goddess of love and beauty
Hermes – Zeus’ messenger
Hephaestus – God of Forge, Fire
Hestia – Goddess of Hearth
Ares – God of war
P is for Pandora
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The sacrifices men began to give the gods
became unacceptable. The men gave the god the
fat and the bones and kept the good meat for
themselves
Zeus was angry with the wicked ways of men so
he punished them by giving them Pandora, a
woman whose name meant gift of all
Pandora was given a box, she was told not to
open it. Curiosity got the best of Pandora and she
opened it anyway. Out came plagues but right
before hope could be released she closed the box
Q is for Queen Helen

Queen Helen was the fairest mortal maiden in all
of the land, because of her the Trojan War came
to be
 Many Men wanted to marry Helen but Menelaus
was chosen to be her husband
 Paris, was promised by Aphrodite to be given
the fairest maiden if he chose her to give the
golden apple to
 Paris came and stole Helen away. All of the men
who wanted to marry Helen decided to hunt
Paris down and kill him. This started the Trojan
War
R is for Rhea
Rhea is Cronus’ wife and sister, she is the
mother of Hestia, Hades, Poseidon, Zeus,
Hera, and Demeter
Cronus was told that one of his children was
going to grow up and dethrone him. He was
angry when he heard this and would
swallow any children he had from then on.
Rhea solved that problem by replacing their
6th son Zeus with a pile of rocks and Cronus
swallowed the rocks.
S is for Sinon
 Sinon was a Greek involved in the secret,
nighttime attack on the Trojans.
 Sinon’s job was to convince the Trojans to
haul the horse into the town without having
the Trojans investigate.
 Sinon was successful and helped lead the
Greeks to victory in the Trojan war.
 Sinon was captured and begged that they
would spare him, claiming he wanted to be
a Trojan. He ended up alive.
T is for Troy
 The City of Troy went to war with the
Greeks
 The cause of the war was the kidnapping of
the fairest maiden Helen, All of the men
who took the oath to protect Helen’s
husband Menelaus went to war because
Paris stole Helen away
 Troy’s greatest warrior is Hector, who was
eventually killed by Achilles
U is for the Underworld
The God of The Underworld is Hades
(Pluto) The Queen of The Underworld is
Demeter’s daughter Persephone
Guarding the gates of the Underworld is the
three headed dog Cerberus
According to the Iliad, it lies beneath the
secret places of the world
V is for Venus (Aphrodite)
Aphrodite is the goddess of love and
beauty, she is one of the 12 great
Olympians
Some of the things that symbolize
Aphrodite are the myrtle, dove, sparrow,
and the swan
According to the Odyssey she is married to
Hephaestus
Aphrodite is known to be joyous and lovely
but at times soft and weak
W is for the Wooden Horse
 The Wooden horse was the idea of
Odysseus the Greek
 The plan was that one Greek, Sinon was to
persuade the Trojans to lead the horse into
the city without investigating it. Sinon was
successful
 The Greeks were hiding in the horse. They
waited until the Trojans were asleep and
they attacked. This led the Greeks to
victory in the Trojan War
X is for Andromache and
AstyanaX
 Andromache and Astyanax were both
Trojan and were present when the
Greeks attacked through the wooden
horse
 All of the Trojans had to evacuate and all
of the little children were killed because
they wouldn’t survive
 Andromache begged and pleaded to let
Astyanax live but he was thrown off of a
building anyway
Y is for the goddess of
Youth, Hebe
 Hebe is the daughter of Zeus and
Hera.
 Hebe is a cup bearer to the Gods.
 The only story told about Hebe was
that of her marriage to Hercules.
Z is for Zeus
Zeus is lord of Heaven and God Of the
Thunder Bolt
He is known to fall in love with many
women. Those women were usually
punished by Zeus’ wife Hera.
His symbols are the eagle and the oak tree.
He is the most important and powerful God
in Olympus