Ever since a question was posted in the Ancient/Classical History Forum about the events surrounding the death of Artemis, I've been planning to put up the word "deicide" for Thursday's term. The post asks how and when Artemis died. Perhaps the poster means Artemisia of Halicarnassus, whom Barry Strauss calls a member of the Spartan Rogue Gallery, or is referring to a myth I don't know that tells about the death of the goddess Artemis, but, as far as I know, Artemis, like the other Olympian gods, is immortal.
Deicide is the word for a god-killing or god-killer, based on the Latin words deus 'god' and some form related to the verb caedo 'strike down, slay.'
Related to deicide are many other words for killing. English Word Information supplies 12 pages of -cide words. Here is an abbreviated list of 12 related to topics in ancient history and classical myths. Your job, if you choose to accept, is to determine the relevant events/people/etc. in Ancient/Classical History. As usual, please post in the comments.
- Apricide (where the first part of the word comes from the word for 'boar')
- Felicide (...word for 'cat')
- Ethnocide (...'culture, ethnic group, larger community')
- Filicide (...'son/daughter')
- Giganticide (...'giant')
- Mariticide (...'husband')
- Matricide (...'mother')
- Socrucide (...'father or mother of one's spouse')
- Tauricide (...'bull/steer')
- Urbicide (...'city')
- Uxoricide (...'wife')
- Vaticide (...'prophet')
More Thursdays' Terms to Learn
Update:10/05/10 - I have added a note (See #xx on Thursday's -cide words to learn) on pages on this site illustrating the -cidal word in question.
Comments
I love a quiz but my myth knowledge is patchy as I studied archaeology, unless it got onto a pot or a frieze I’m a bit lost.
1) Doesn’t Herakles kill a boar as one of his labours?
3)Is this the Lapithomachy that one sees depicted on friezes?
4)Oh the choices the choices. I could have Agamemnon and Iphigenia but as that was a sacrifice maybe it doesn’t count. Medea so, she definitely killed her children.
6) Clytemnestra kills Agamemnon
7) Orestes and Elektra kill Clytemnestra…
8)and her husband
Thanks for your answers. You don’t have to use mythology — history is great — archaeology could work, too. I don’t understand your answer for 8. I would certainly count Agamemnon’s act as filicide, but Medea’s is more astounding. Although I’d been thinking historically for #3, your answer is a good one. #1 – Herc brings the boar to Eurystheus, but I didn’t think he had to kill it. Could be wrong.
1)Caledonian boar – theseus
Pelops again? Did not he kill Hippodamia’s father in a horse race. I vaguely remember it was Hippodamia’s fiance but I am not sure it was Pelops. Definitely an Atreid. The genes of this family!
2)don’t know about cats. Something with Egyptians who felt it was sacred? Did anyone kill Bastis? (just a wild guess)
3) Troy was destroyed and most of its inhabitants were either killed or sold into slavery; only Aeneus and his family survived
(In real history, I think the way Rome treated Carthagen was a classic example of ethnocide; they sold the inhabitants into slavery in different countries so that they could not mate and the whole group would disapppear)
4) Medea, Hercules, Laertes tried to kill Oedypus by exposure, Tantalus technically killed Pelops and served his meat to Olympians
5) unless titans can be counted as gigants. Then Cronus was killed by Zeus
6) Agamemnon
7) Clytemnestra
9) Theseus – Minotaur (Theseus definitely was not a vegetarian!)
9) Troy again?
10) Herakles
11) Cassandra was killed by Clytemnestra
http://felineforever.com/cat-mythology-greece.html
I almost wanted to say that there were no cats in greek myths because cats as domestic animals penetrated Greece in post-mythology area (at the same time as apples I think; around 5th century, coming either from Egypt or Persia; they looked very different from our cats). But then decided to check, and, lo and behold, there is a myth about felicide. See the link.
Also, re. ethnocide – I think, in real life that is what happened when Cleomenes of Sparta basically killed all male Argives. The women had to marry non-Argives or slaves to preserve the population of the city. While in real life it means that Argives survived but most peoples except for Jews thought that ethnicity was patrilinear, in the eyes of Greeks Argos as a city and its inhabitants as a nation/ethnos ceased to exist.
I am going to check about cats – I think that some historic weirdo later crucified cats but I do not remember who it was and where. A weird story, I think it was a Roman but again not sure and have to Google.
About the town – again, I need to check the Argonauts. I think there was a town that was unwelcoming to them so they pretended to sail away then returned and punished it. It is around the same time they stayed on Lesbos, so it must have been close to it. I am scraping my memory but these myths are so long you really have to think hard…
On the Calydonian Boar Hunt, while Theseus was there, because he’s always there [see Myth Monday's Theseus had a hand in it], Meleager is the main hero of the hunt.
1.Apricide (where the first part of the word comes from the word for ‘boar’)
2.Felicide (…word for ‘cat’)
3.Ethnocide (…’culture, ethnic group, larger community’)
4.Filicide (…’son/daughter’) : Agamemnon sacrifices Ephigenia to Artemis for favourable winds…
5.Giganticide (…’giant’) Zeus killed his father a Titan who could qualify as a Giant
6.Mariticide (…’husband’)
7.Matricide (…’mother’) Electra
8.Socrucide (…’father or mother of one’s spouse’)
9.Tauricide (…’bull/steer’) Theseus
10.Urbicide (…’city’): Nero burned Rome, or at least sat by and watched it happen, but is that mythology?
11.Uxoricide (…’wife’)
12.Vaticide (…’prophet’) Didn’t Pilate order the execution of Jesus?