Classical Literacy Exam Intro

Part II

Daedalus:inventor who created the Labyrinth where

the Minotaur lived

Elysian Fields/Elysium:

in early mythology, the resting place of heroes; the later mythology, where good people went

in the afterlife

epic:a long poem that narrates the deeds of a hero

or the history of a nation, e.g. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey

Eros/Cupid:god of love and desire; son of Aphrodite

et tu, Brute?:"and you, Brutus?" famous last words of Julius Caesar as

the Senate members assassinated him; Brutus was supposed to be a friend of his, but had a hand in the killing

etc./et cetera:"and the rest" - usually seen at the end of a

list of things, instead of listing everything

ex libris:"from the library of" - used as an inscription on

a bookplate to show the name of the book's owner: ex libris Mark Twain.

finis:"the end"

fresco:a mural painted directly onto wet

plaster (fresco means "fresh" in Italian)

Golden Fleece:the golden wool of a ram sought by Jason

and the Argonauts

Gorgons:female monsters who had snakes for hair and whose

horrifying gaze could turn a man to stone if he looked at them (Medusa was one of the Gorgons)

Hades/Pluto:god of the Underworld/Tartarus

Hannibal:Carthaginian general who attacked Italy by crossing

the Italian Alps in the 2nd Punic War; he was eventually defeated by Scipio at the Battle of Zama

Hector:prince of Troy who was killed by Achilles in the Iliad;

Achilles tied Hector's dead body to the back of his chariot and dragged it around the city walls three times

Helen:queen of Sparta who was promised to Paris by Aphrodite for choosing her (Aphrodite) as the fairest goddess; Helen was

already married to Menelaus (the king of Sparta) and her kidnapping/elopement began the Trojan War

Hephaestus/Vulcan:god of fire and metal-working; married to

Aphrodite/Venus

Hera/Juno:goddess of marriage; married to Zeus;

queen of the gods

Hercules/Heracles:mortal son of Zeus; had to complete 12 labors to regain favor with the gods after killing his family;

when he died, he became a god

Hermes/Mercury:the messenger god; god of thieves and travelers;

son of Zeus; invented the lyre; escorted people to the Underworld when they died

Hestia/Vesta:goddess of the hearth

Homer:blind poet who wrote the Iliad and the

Odyssey

i.e./id est:"that is" - used for further explanation: 'in

other words...'

Icarus & Daedalus:Icarus was the son of Daedalus who flew too

close to the sun with the wings his father made him from wax and feathers, and fell to his death

Ides of March:the 15th of March, the day in 44 BC when

Julius Caesar was assassinated

Iliad:epic poem written by Homer that tells part

of the story of the Trojan War

Jason:leader of the quest for the Golden Fleece;

sailed with the Argonauts

Jove:another name for Zeus/Jupiter

jovial:good-humored, jolly (ancient astrologers thought that the planet Jupiter fostered

cheerfulness)

labyrinth:maze under the palace of Palace of Minos at

Crete, where the Minotaur (half man, half bull) was thought to have been imprisoned

M.D./Medicinae Doctor:

doctor of medicine

marathon:a modern day race of 26.2 miles; from Marathon in Greece, the

scene of a victory over the Persians in 490 bc; the modern race is based on the tradition that a messenger ran from Marathon to

Athens (26 miles) with the news.

mea culpa:"my fault"

Minotaur:

half-man, half-bull who lived in the Labyrinth; fed off of Athenian youths; killed by Theseus

mosaic:a picture made from small bits of glass or

pottery

Mt. Olympus:home of the Greek gods; highest mountain

in Greece

Mt. Vesuvius:volcano that erupted in AD 79 and

destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum

muses:the 9 goddesses who looked after the arts and

inspired men in those arts (poetry, history, drama, etc.)

Nike/Victoria:goddess of victory

Odysseus/Ulysses:king of Ithaca who came up with the idea of using the Trojan

horse to defeat the city of Troy; the Odyssey (an epic by Homer) tells the story of Odysseus trying to find his way home from the

Trojan War

Orpheus & Eurydice:Eurydice died on their wedding day. Orpheus went down to the Underworld to

bring her back. Hades agreed, on the condition that Eurydice would follow behind Orpheus on their way up to the mortal world and he couldn't check to make sure

she was behind him until they had left the Underworld; he looked behind him just as they were about to exit the Underworld and lost her forever.

the Fates:the three goddesses who determine a person's life: when he will

be born, how long he will live, and when he will die; one sister spins the thread of life, the second measures out a certain length, and the third cuts it at the end of the person's life

the furies:spirits who carry out curses and torture for wrongdoing toward one's family members

the Odyssey:Homer's epic poem about Odysseus, kind of Ithaca, trying to find his way home from the

Trojan War