WORDPLAY
1. the science or study of myths
2. a book of or about myths
3. myths collectively; esp., all the myths of a specific people or about a specific being
FAST FACTS
Adam and Eve, in Bible, the first man and woman; two versions of their creation in Genesis; in one, God created all living creatures, including both male and female humans in His own image; in the other, God created Adam from the dust of the earth (hence his name, from the Aramaic word meaning ground) and Eve from Adam’s rib; both were innocent until Eve was tempted by the serpent to eat fruit of the forbidden tree of knowledge and Adam joined her; thrust out of Eden by God, account later in Genesis
Anthropomorphism, the ascribing of human form or qualities to gods or things, as when ancient people attributed powers to fire, stones, and trees, and as animals in fables have the gift of speech
Anubis, an Egyptian deity, with human body and head of jackal or dog; led souls of dead to lower world; helped Osiris at final judgment
Artemis, in Greek mythology, daughter of Zeus and Leto, twin sister of Apollo; virgin huntress and moon goddess; Roman counterpart Diana
Balder, character in Norse mythology, god of light and the most beloved god; son of Odin and Frigga; hated by Loki, who tricked another god, Hoder, into killing Balder with a twig of mistletoe
China (or People’s Republic of China), country in e. Asia; area 3,692,000 sq mi (9,561,000 sq km); cap. Beijing; pop. 1,165,888,000 circa 1995
Cumae, Italy, ancient city on west coast, 12 mi (19 km) west of Naples; oldest Greek colony in Italy; supposed home of Cumaean sibyl; remains of amphitheatre, fortifications, and other ruins
Delilah, Philistine woman loved by Samson, who caused his downfall by having his strength-giving hair cut off (Bible, Judges. xvi)
Demeter, in Greek mythology; goddess of agriculture and marriage; Roman counterpart is Ceres
Diana, goddess in Roman mythology, identified with Greek Artemis
Edda, ancient literature of Iceland contained in two 13th-century books, the ‘Prose (or Younger) Edda’ and the ‘Poetic (or Elder) Edda’; ‘Prose Edda’ written by Snorri Sturluson about 1222; partly a textbook on poetry and partly a text about the Norse gods and their fate; ‘Poetic Edda’ compiled 50 years or more later but contains older literary material on pre-Christian Iceland, myths and hero legends, probably written between AD 800 and 1000; contains oldest existing poetic rendition of great Germanic legends of the Nibelung, basis of Richard Wagner’s four-opera cycle
Eleusis, Greece, ancient city in Attica, on coast opposite island of Salamis; annexed to Athens, its former rival, in 700 BC
Frey, in Norse mythology, god of peace, prosperity, and fruitfulness, brother of Freyja; according to old Danish legend he was reincarnated in the kings of Denmark
Freyja (or Freyia, or Freya), in Norse mythology, goddess of love, sister of Frey, and in late German folklore wife of Odin; portrayed in chariot pulled by cats
Frigga (or Frigg), in Norse mythology, wife of Odin and goddess of marriage and domestic life; Friday (day of week) named for her
Gaea (or Ge), in Greek mythology, the ancient goddess Mother Earth; corresponding Roman goddesses were Tellus and Terra
Geb (or Seb), deity in Egyptian mythology, identified by Greeks with Cronos; considered father of the gods; also god of Earth and underworld; father of Isis and Osiris
Genesis (coming into being, also called Book of Creation), first book of Bible; tells of creation of world and of founding of Israelite nation and its history to deaths of Jacob and Joseph
Hades (or Pluto), in Greek mythology, god of lower world, also name of lower world
Heimdal, in Norse mythology, guardian of the rainbow bridge of the gods; can see perfectly day and night; can even hear grass grow; seldom sleeps
Hel (or Hela), in Scandinavian mythology, goddess of death who ruled over the realm of the dead; daughter of Loki
Hephaestus, in Greek mythology, god of fire and the forge; called Vulcan by the Romans; son of Zeus and Hera; crippled by being hurled to Earth by Zeus; in some stories married Aphrodite
Hera, in Greek mythology, queen of the gods, wife of Zeus, identified with Roman goddess Juno
Hermes, in Greek mythology, messenger of gods; Roman counterpart Mercury
Hestia, in Greek mythology, goddess of hearth and home; Roman counterpart Vesta
‘Iliad’, epic poem by Homer on wrath of Achilles and the Trojan War
Janus, in Roman mythology, god of the door and good beginnings
Juno, in Roman mythology, goddess identified with Greek Hera, sometimes called Moneta
Lares (plural of Lar), deities in Roman mythology, protecting deities of the household, associated with the Penates
Millennium, period of 1,000 years, especially the 1,000-year period referred to in the Bible (Rev. xx) as the coming kingdom of Christ on earth; also a period of happiness, righteousness, and prosperity
Mimir, in Norse mythology, giant who guarded the well of wisdom
Minerva, in Roman mythology, goddess of wisdom; Greek counterpart is Athena
Morpheus, in Greek and Roman mythology, dream god who calls human forms before the dreamer; son of Hypnos (Somnus), god of sleep; mentioned in Ovid
Muses, in mythology, nine goddesses regarded as patrons of the arts and sciences
Nemesis, Greek goddess; name means “one who deals out,” hence one who distributes good or bad fortune according to people’s deserts; later thought of as the angry avenger of crime, relentlessly pursuing the evildoer
Noah, figure in Bible, Genesis vi-ix, builder of the Ark, in which he and his family and one pair of every kind of animal were saved from the Deluge; supposedly ancestor of various races through sons, Shem, Ham, Japheth
Nymph, in Greek mythology, spirit presiding over an aspect of nature; usually represented as a young maiden; Naiads lived in springs and rivers; Oceanids were nymphs of the sea; Nereids of the Mediterranean; Oreads, of mountains; Dryads, of trees
Odin (or Woden, or Wotan), in Scandinavian mythology, father of the gods; ruled the heavens and Earth from the shining city of Asgard; traded an eye for a drink from the sacred fountain of wisdom; his messengers, the Valkyries, lead the souls of the hero dead to Valhalla
‘Odyssey’, Greek epic poem relating adventures of Odysseus on return from Trojan War
Orpheus, legendary poet and musician of ancient Greece; given lyre by Apollo and instructed by the Muses; enchanted men, beasts, and even trees; when his wife, Eurydice, died from snakebite he won her release from Hades by his music, but by violating the condition not to look back at her until they had left the lower world, he lost her; called Father of Song
Osiris, in Egyptian mythology, god of the sun, health, agriculture; son of Seb, the Earth, and Nut, the sky; married Isis; murdered by his brother Seth, became ruler of the dead
Pan, in Greek mythology, god of flocks, fields, forests; portrayed with goat’s horns, beard, and feet; symbolized paganism to early Christians
Penates, Roman gods of the storeroom; each family worshiped its own Penates
Persephone, in Greek mythology, daughter of Demeter; Roman counterpart Proserpina
Pluto (also called Hades), in Roman and Greek mythology, god of underworld
Poseidon, in Greek mythology, god of the sea, brother of Zeus and Hades; helped Greeks during Trojan War; corresponds to Roman god Neptune
Prometheus, in Greek mythology, one of the Titans, a race of giants; by giving fire to mankind he saved them from annihilation by Zeus; for this Zeus bound him to a rock, where a huge bird preyed on his liver, which was devoured and renewed daily; eventually Hercules freed him; later myths say he created man; subject of ‘Prometheus Bound’, only extant part of a trilogy by Aeschylus, and ‘Prometheus Unbound’, lyrical drama by Shelley
Ragnarok, in Norse mythology, time when world of gods was to be destroyed; a new world of good was to arise from the destruction; Wagner’s opera ‘Die Gotterdammerung’ is based upon the myth
Samson, Hebrew judge and hero, celebrated for feats of strength; when Delilah had his hair shorn, his strength departed and he was enslaved and blinded by the Philistines; as his hair grew, his strength returned and he pulled down the house on his enemies’ heads and on his own (Bible, Judges xiii-xvi)
Sleipnir, in Norse mythology, Odin’s horse; had eight legs and travelled on land and water; steed that took Hermod to Hel
Snorri Sturluson (1178-1241), Icelandic historian and official; author of ‘Heimskringla’ (sagas of Norwegian kings) and collector and editor of Younger or Prose Edda
Sumerians, predecessors of Babylonians in Tigris-Euphrates Valley
Thanatos, in Greek mythology, god of death, brother of Hypnos (Roman Somnus); called Mors in Roman mythology
Titans, in Greek mythology, rebellious giant children of Uranus
Tyr (old English name Tiw), Nordic god of battles; lost his hand in struggle with the wolf Fenris; gave name to Tuesday
Uranus, in Greek mythology, Uranus, the sky, and Gaea, the Earth, were parents of Cronus and Rhea who became parents of Zeus and the other gods
Valkyries (or Valkyrs, or choosers of the slain), maidens in Norse mythology, sent by Odin to conduct souls of slain heroes to Valhalla
Vesta, in Roman mythology, goddess of the hearth and home; Greek counterpart Hestia
Vulcan, in Roman mythology, god of fire and metalworking; identified with Greek Hephaestus
Continuing … ‘MYTHOLOGY – (Part 2 of 5)’
Related articles: MYTHOLOGY, TROJAN WAR, FLOOD LEGENDS, COWBOY, FRONTIER, WESTERN, SCIENCE FICTION, ROMULUS AND REMUS, HINDUISM, INDIA, HESIOD, COSMOLOGY, PANDORA, HELL AND HADES, GOD, HERCULES, IKHNATON, ISIS AND OSIRIS, ZEUS, ATHENA, APOLLO, APHRODITE, FATES, AUGUSTUS, HOMERIC LEGEND, OVID, AENEAS, EPIC, SONG OF THE NIBELUNGS, SAGA
Tags: aeneas, aphrodite, apollo, athena, augustus, cosmology, cowboy, epic, fates, flood legends, frontier, god, hell and hades, hercules, hesiod, hinduism, homeric legend, ikhnaton, india, isis and osiris, mythology, ovid, pandora, religious insight, romulus and remus, saga, science fiction, song of the nibelungs, trojan war, western, zeus
