9th grade English-Mythology

English I/ Honors
Ms. Barletta

Mythology Character Review

The following is a list of characters from Perseus, Theseus, Hercules, The Trojan War and The Fall of Troy which you should know for your Mythology II Test.

Character List

Perseus

King Acrisius: Father of Danae, grandfather of Perseus
Prophesized to be killed by his grandson (Perseus)
Built a bronze house and sunk it underground to prevent the prophecy from coming true
Built a chest and placed Danae and Perseus in it and cast it out to sea to prevent the prophecy from coming true
He is killed by Perseus at the end of the myth at an athletic competition wherein Perseus is present and hits him in the head with a discus, killing him instantly.
Danaë:Daughter of King Acrisius; mother of Perseus
Raped by Zeus from a golden shower
Cast away by her father and ends up being taken care of by Dictys, a fisherman
Love interest of King Polydectes-she does not return his feelings
Perseus: Son of Danae; son of Zeus; grandson of King Acrisius
Goes on a journey to obtain a gorgon head for King Polydectes as a wedding present
Athena and Hermes guide Perseus throughout his journey
Gets Medusa’s (gorgon) head
Saves and marries Andromeda
Returns home, turns King Polydectes and others in the hall into stone, saves his mother and makes Dictys king of the island
Accidentally kills his grandfather, King Acrisius in an athletic competition with a discus
Dictys: Fisherman who takes care of Danae and Perseus
Brother of King Polydectes
Becomes king of the island
King Polydectes: King of the island
Falls in love with Danae; wants her but not her son so he mentions he would love to have a gorgon head
He then proclaims he is getting money and Perseus does not have any money for a gift and offers to get the gorgon for him which was what Polydectes hoped Perseus would do. He only “wanted” the gorgon head because it was an impossible task to complete without help.
Forces Danae and Dictys into hiding
Gets turned into stone by Perseus who uses the Gorgon head to turn him into the stone
Gray Women: Three sisters who share one eye
Hyperboreans: Welcome Perseus and throw a feast in his honor
They give him an expandable wallet, winged sandals, and an invisibility cap
Andromeda: Sacrificed because her mother, Cassiopia was vain and thought she was the most beautiful woman who ever lived
Saved from a sea monster by Perseus
Perseus makes her his wife
Theseus
Theseus: Son of King Aegeus; cousin of Hercules
Takes the dangerous route by land in hopes of becoming a hero, kills bandits along the way
Reunited with his father
Kills the Minotaur with the help of Ariadne
Allegedly left Ariadne
Forgot to change the sail on the ship to white from black to let his father know he was alive
Becomes King once his father kills himself-1st democracy
Captures and has a son (Hippolytus) with the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta
Marries Ariadne’s sister, Phaedra who falls in love with his son Hippolytus
He believes his angry wife’s letter and throws Hippolytus out of the house and dies soon thereafter
Theseus is killed by a friend, King Lycomedes
King Aegeus: Father of Theseus, leaves a sword and shoes for Theseus to ome and find him once he is of age
Almost killed Theseus with poison, which was suggested by Medea before he knew Theseus was his son
Committed suicide by throwing himself into the sea, now known as the Aegean sea after believing his son to be dead
Minos: Ruler of Crete
His son dies in a bull fight while under King Aegeus’ care
To avenge his son’s death, he has Daedalus design a labyrinth with a Minotaur inside. Every 9 years 7 girls and 7 boys are sacrificed
Daedalus: Creator of the labyrinth
Tells Ariadne how to get out of the maze-tie a string to the door and follow the path
Ariadne: Daughter of Minos
Falls in love with Theseus, helps him through the labyrinth
Two stories of what happened to her: 1. Theseus left her 2. She became sea sick and there was a wind storm so Theseus could not get to her and she dies
Hippolyta: Queen of the Amazons
Carried away by Theseus with whom she has a son
Taken back by her fellow Amazons
In the myth of Hercules, he has to get her girdle and she would have given it to him, but he (Hercules) kills her
Hippolytus: Son of Hippolyta and Theseus
Does not desire to be with any woman, worships Artemis, virgin goddess of wild things
Phaedra, Theseus’ wife falls in love with him, kills herself and accuses him in her suicide letter of raping her
Theseus banishes and asks Poseidon to punish him
Hippolytus is killed by a sea serpent and dies-before he dies, Artemis appears to Theseus and tells him the truth
Phaedra: Theseus’ wife
Falls in love with Hippolytus
Confesses her love for Hippolytus who rejects her
She writes a letter to Theseus, accusing Hippolytus of rape and kills herself
Pirithoüs: Friend of Theseus
Theseus and Pirithous steal Helen of Troy when she is young, she is stolen back from them
His wife is killed by her family members, the Centaurs
Convinces Theseus to go with him to the underworld to get a new wife, Persephone, wife of Hades
Hades places them in the chair of forgetfulness, where he remained for all eternity while Theseus was later rescued by Hercules
Hercules
Hercules: Greek hero
Strong and unintelligent
Effusive
Completes12 tasks as penance for killing his wife and sons-Hera struck him with madness and made him do it
Son of Alcemna and Zeus
Unable to control his strength, loved adventure
Brought Admetus’ wife back from the underworld
His wife Deinaira sends him a robe which makes him feel as though he is on fire
He asks Philoctetes to help him kill himself by fire
Alcmena: Mother of Hercules
Iphicles: Half brother of Hercules
Hercules saves him when they are young by killing two serpents who would have killed them
Eurystheus: Gives Hercules the 12 tasks
Atlas: His responsibility is to hold the World
He tells Hercules how and where to get the golden apples
Tricks Hercules into holding the world, but he also is not intelligent and is tricked by Hercules to take the World back and hold it again
Princess Megara: First wife of Hercules
She and her three sons are killed by Hercules in a fit of madness
Deianira: Second wife of Hercules
Jealous because she has heard false rumors that Hercules was cheating on her
She sent him a robe which made him feel as though he was on fire
She later feels terrible about what she has done and kills herself
Admetus: Friend of Hercules
He is told that his life is about to expire and tries to find someone to take his place
His wife agrees to take his place and die for him
As he is mourning over his wife’s death, Hercules comes to visit him and he does not mention that his wife has died
Hercules makes a ruckus in his house since he does not know
He finds out about Admetus’ wife, feels awful for what he has done and brings her back from the underworld
Philoctetes: Helps Hercules kill himself by setting him on fire
The Trojan War
Eris: Evil goddess of discord
Throws apple into the hall at Thetis’ wedding marked “For the Fairest”
Oenone: Nymph and girlfriend of Paris
Paris leaves her for Helen
When Paris is near death, he comes to her begging her to heal him-she refuses
She feels awful for not saving him and kills herself
Helen: The most beautiful woman in all the land; daughter of Zeus and Leda
Married to Menelaus, runs off with Paris
The main reason for the Trojan War
Menelaus: Brother of Agamemnon
Married to Helen
Wages war against the Trojans for stealing Helen
Greek
Agamemnon: He is given a priestess of Apollo for his enjoyment and gets into an argument with Achilles who thinks this is despicable and steals her back
He demands a replacement woman
Greek
Sacrifices his daughter because he has upset Artemis-he tells her she is getting married, but she is killed instead
Paris: Son a king-sent away by his father because he was prophesized to bring ruin to Troy, which he does
Coward-taken away in a cloud by Aphrodite just as he was about to lose in a fight with Menelaus
Steals Helen from Menelaus with the aid of Aphrodite
Killed by Achilles’ son
Odysseus: Greek hero
Pretends to be mad (crazy) in order to avoid going to war by using salt instead of seeds to plow-the messenger puts his son in front of him, Odysseus moves the plow which proves he is sane
Odysseus is forced to go to war
Achilles: Son of Thetis
Greek
Destined to die in the Trojan War
Brutally kills Hector and desecrates his body
Weak Spot: Heel-When he was young, his mother dipped him in the River Styx to make him invulnerable, but left out his heel
Killed by Paris whose arrow is guided by Apollo
Hector: Destined to die in the Trojan War
Trojan
Thetis: Nymph and mother of Achilles
Ability to tell the future
Attempts to protect her son, Achilles
Asks Zeus to support the Trojans, which he aggress to
Her wedding was part of the reason why the Trojan War began
Ajax: Greek hero/warrior
Loses competition to Odysseus regarding who was the more valuable Greek fighter and should have Achilles’ armor
Ajax decides to prove his prowess as a fighter; however, Athena strikes him with madness making him think he was killing warriors instead of animals.
When he came out of his madness he was humiliated with what he had done and killed himself.

Note: You should study this sheet in addition to the notes taken in class and not instead of your notes.