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Welcome to the Glossary.
Click below on the starting letter of the word you are searching for. |
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| Abduction |
When a person is taken by force; kidnapping |
| Apotheosis |
When a mortal is made into a god |
| Appease |
Verb meaning to calm |
| Arms |
'Arms' here means weapons |
| Attributes |
Objects that are often shown with a certain character and which allow you to identify them |
| Aulis |
An ancient harbour town in Greece |
| Avenge |
Verb meaning to punish someone because they have hurt someone else |
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| Centaur |
A creature with head, arms and upper body of a man and the lower body and legs of a horse |
| Centurion |
A Roman officer |
| Chariot |
A two-wheeled vehicle that can be pulled along by horses or stags |
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| Discord |
Disagreement |
| Depict |
How something is shown in works of art or in writing |
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| Embroidery |
Patterns or pictures made of thread sewn on fabric |
| Envy |
To want something that someone else has |
| Erymanthus |
A mountain in South-West Greece |
| Eternal |
Forever |
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| Flaying |
A punishment where skin is torn off the body |
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| Gilt-bronze |
Often used for making statues and ornaments on furniture. The metal used is bronze but then it is covered with gilt (a thin layer of gold) which is cheaper than making the whole thing out of gold |
| Gods/Goddesses |
Characters with special powers that live on Mount Olympus and are immortal (they live forever) |
| Greece |
A country in South-East Europe |
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| Humiliate |
Verb meaning to embarrass and show someone up |
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| Immortal |
A character with ever-lasting life, like a god |
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| Joppa |
The old name for Ethiopia in North-East Africa |
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| King Louis XIV |
A King of France, known as the Sun King because he modelled himself on Apollo, the sun god |
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| Laurel wreath |
A crown made out of leaves from a laurel tree |
| Lyre |
A stringed instrument like a harp, normally with 4 strings. Mercury made the first lyre out of the rib of a cow |
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| Marble |
A kind of stone that is very good for sculpture. It is white in its purest form and is thought to be very fine |
| Mortal |
Characters, normally human, who do not have special powers and who do not live forever |
| Mount Olympus |
A mountain in North-East Greece. In ancient times it was believed that it was the home of the gods |
| Mycenae |
An ancient city in Greece |
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| Nemea |
A valley area in Ancient Greece |
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| Ocean |
Neptune's Kingdom. The Greeks and Romans believed that the Earth was surrounded by a huge stretch of water, called Ocean |
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| Papier Mâché |
Layers of paper and glue that can be moulded to form a hard surface or different three-dimensional shapes |
| Passionate |
An adjective meaning to feel very strongly about something |
| Patinate |
A colouring effect for decorating metals |
| Prophecy |
A message telling the future, as planned by gods |
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| Rage |
Extreme anger |
| Ransack |
Verb meaning to steal and ruin, normally homes, towns or cities |
| Rape |
The 'rape' here means to abduct; to take someone against their will |
| River Styx |
A river between the Earth and the Underworld that the dead had to be carried across by Charon, the ferryman |
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| Sacrifice |
In Greek and Roman times sacrifices were offerings given to gods, normally left at the temple for a god in order to keep the gods happy. Sacrifices could be gifts of food or valuables. Sometimes animals or people were killed as sacrifices |
| Satyr |
A demi-god with the face and body of a young man but ears and tail of a horse. Satyrs knew the secret of making wine from grapes. |
| Savonnerie |
A type of very expensive and rare carpet only ever made for the King of France and his friends. The word ‘Savonnerie’ comes from the French word 'savon' meaning soap because the carpets were made in an old soap factory |
| Sparta |
An ancient–Greek city, famous for its simple and serious way of life and for its army |
| Suitors |
An old-fashioned word meaning boyfriend |
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| Trojan Horse |
The huge wooden hollow horse that the Greeks used to trick the Trojans during the Trojan War by hiding in it |
| Troy |
An ancient city in North-West Turkey |
| Temple |
A building where gods and goddesses are worshipped |
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| Underworld |
The area below the Earth's surface. The Greeks and Romans believed that people went there when they died. |
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| Vengeance |
When someone takes revenge |
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These are the 12 Labours of Hercules that he had to complete as a punishment for killing his family in a fit of rage. The 12 Labours are:
- To kill the Nemean Lion
- To kill the Lernaean Hydra
- To catch the Ceryneian Hind
- To trap the Erymanthian Boar
- To clean the Augean Stables
- To kill the Stymphalian Birds
- To capture Gretan Bull
- To round up the Horses of Diomedes
- To fetch Hippolyta's Girdle (a type of belt)
- To fetch the Cattle of Geryon
- To collect some of the Golden Apples of the Hesperides
- To fetch Cerberus from the Underworld
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