Mythology
Name: __________________________________________________________ Date: ________________
Part One The Gods, The Creation, and The Earliest Heroes
Chapter 1 The Gods Chapter 2 The Two Great Gods of Earth
1. What did the Greeks believe about the origins of the gods and the universe?
2. Who were the first parents, and who were their children and grandchildren?
3. How did Homer describe
4. Give the Roman names for the following gods and goddesses: Zeus, Hades, Artemis, Hermes, Hestia.
5. Give the Greek names for these gods and goddesses: Juno, Neptune, Minerva, Venus, Mars, Vulcan.
6. How was the will of Zeus revealed at the oracle at
7. Describe the breastplate, bird, and tree that symbolize Zeus.
8. What was the dual relationship between Zeus and Hera?
9. Describe Hera’s personality.
10. Who were Zeus’ two brothers, and where did they rule?
11. Briefly describe the characteristics and functions of any two of the following gods and goddesses: Athena, Phoebus Apollo, Artemis, or Aphrodite.
12. Briefly describe the characteristics and functions of any two of the following gods and goddesses: Hermes, Hephaestus, Hestia, Cupid, Ares, or the Muses and Graces.
13. What did Hermes have on his feet, hat, and wand, and why?
14. Name the Gods of the Waters.
15. Who are the main gods of the Underworld?
16. What are the Elysian Fields?
17. Briefly retell the story of Demeter (Ceres).
18. What were the two central ideas in the worship of Dionysus?
19. Why did Dionysus become the center of the belief in immortality?
20. How were Demeter and Dionysus different from the other gods and goddesses?
Pre-reading Vocabulary Worksheets – Mythology
Introduction Part I: Using Prior Knowledge and Context Clues
Below are the sentences in which the vocabulary words appear in the text. Read the sentence.
Use any clues you can find in the sentence combined with your prior knowledge, and write what you think the underlined words mean on the lines provided.
1. He was unpitying, inexorable, but just; a terrible, not an evil god.
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2. Even more than of these good and lovely endowments, he is the God of Light.
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3. They clad her in raiment immortal.
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4. Homer calls him murderous, bloodstained, the incarnate curse of mortals.
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5. He never was to them the mean whining deity of the Iliad, but magnificent in shining armor, redoubtable, invincible.
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6. Quirinus was the name of the deified
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7. ...Zeus a dangerous lover for mortal maidens and completely incalculable in his use of the terrible thunderbolt.
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8. When they were not positively harmful they were capricious and undependable.
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9. In her desolate wanderings she came to
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10. He was accompanied, as was his custom, by a train of women dancing and singing exultant songs.
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Part II: Determining the Meaning Match the vocabulary words to their dictionary definitions.
____ 1. inexorable A. given human form
____ 2. endowments B. unpredictable; impossible to foresee
____ 3. raiment C. not able to be persuaded
____ 4. incarnate D. clothing
____ 5. redoubtable E. barren, lifeless
____ 6. deified F. joyful, triumphant
____ 7. incalculable G. a fund donated to a group or individual
____ 8. capricious H. impulsive; given to whim
____ 9. desolate
____10. exultant J. worshipped as a god