Myths of the Olympian gods: Male Deities

• Powell, Chapter 7
  • Key Names & Terms:
    • birth: Leto, Hera, Zeus, Delos, Apollo
    • oracle: Telephusa, Delphi, Pytho, Pythia
    • loves: Cassandra, Sibyl at Cumae, Daphnê, Coronis, Asclepius
  • go to Powell's web site (Ch 7): click here
• Powell, Chapter 8 (also 7 in 4th-6th editions)
  • Key Names & Terms:
    • Hephaestus, Hera, Zeus, Ares, Aphrodite, Poseidon
    • Hermes, Zeus, Maia, Apollo, Argus, caduceus, psychopompos
  • go to Powell's web site (Ch 7): click here

Myths of "The Male Divine" and One Trickster

• Hindu: Arjuna, Krishna, Sanjay(a), Bhagavad Gita, terms: karma, dharma, yoga, bhakti, jnana (L & M, Ch 4)
• Yoruba: Olorun, Orunmila, Eshu, orishas, Agemo (L & M, Ch 4)
• Norse: Odin, Thor, Hrungnir, Magni, Mjollnir, hone, Valhalla, Jotunheim, Stone Fence House (L & M, Ch 4)
• Norse: Thor, Loki, Sif, dwarfs (sons of Ivaldi), dwarfs (Brokk & Eitri), Mjollnir, Sif's "hair", other gifts (L & M, Ch 5)

Myths of the Olympian gods: Female Deities

• Powell, Chapter 9 (8 in 4th-6th editions):
  • Key Names & Terms:
    • Hestia, hearth, Dionysus
    • Aphrodite, Cypris, Hermaphroditus, Pygmalion, Cinyras, Myrrha, Anchises, Aeneas
    • Artemis, Zeus, Leto, Potnia Therôn, Niobê, Actaeon; from L & M Ch 3: Callisto, Zeus, Big Dipper, Little Dipper, Hera
    • Athena, Zeus, Arachne, Poseidon, aegis
  • sample questions at his web site: click here
• Powell, Chapter 10 (9 in 4th-6th editions):
  • Key Names & Terms:
    • Demeter, Persephone, Hades, Pomegranate, Eleusis, Rhea
    • Eleusinian Mysteries (& class notes): Telesterion, Eleusis, Eleusinion, Agora, fish, pomegranate, kykeon
    • Inanna, Dumuzi, Enki, food of life, water of life
    • Isis, Osiris, Typhoeus or Seth, Biblos, fish
    • Cybele, Zeus, Agdestis, pomegranate, Attis, self-castration
    • Aphrodite, Adonis, Myrrha
  • sample questions at his web site: click here

Myths of "The Female Divine"

• Hawiian: Pe-le, Hi-i-aka, Ho-po-e, Lo-hi-au, Kane-milo-hai (L & M, Ch 2)
• Sioux: Sioux "the Without-Bows", wakan, Ptesan-Wi or White Buffalo Calf Woman, chanunpa, buffaloes (L & M, Ch 2)
• Vietnamese: Human Language, Dragon Lord or Lac Dragon, Au Co or Lac Bird, Jade stone (L & M, Ch 2)

Possible Essay Questions:

• Apply Malinowski's charter theory to at least one male divine myth and at least one female divine myth. Choose from the following for
  • the male divine: Apollo, Hermes, Hindu, Yoruba, Norse (must use both).
  • the female divine: Hawaiian, Sioux, Vietnamese, Aphrodite, Artemis.
  As usual, use only the material from Powell's text and from Leonard & McClure's text that we have covered in this unit.


• What are some of the things that the first thirty lines or so of the Homeric Hymns to Apollo, Hermes, Artemis, Aphrodite, & Demeter (all in Powell) tell us about Greek society? Make sure you organize based on "themes" not based on the Homeric Hymns, that you give specific examples from at least 3 specific Homeric Hymns.


• We have seen how myths of a particular culture often reveal societal norms. Using the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite in Powell, and the myth of "A Taste of Earth" (Leonard & McClure, 147-154), what do these myths tell us about how these two cultures treated 'love' relationships (between couples, between family members)? For your conclusion answer whether there is a universal concept of 'love.' If you wish, you may add a third culture, using either the myth of Isis and Osiris or the myth of Inanna and Dumuzi in Powell's chapter 10 (ch 9 in the 4th-6th edit).