Facts Flashcards
With whose help does Clytemnestra slaughter her husband, Agamemnon?
Aegisthus
In Norse mythology, on what day is the world destined to end?
Ragnarok
Of what city is Aeneas is considered the “real” founder?
Rome
What is Odysseus the only man ever to do and survive?
Hearing the song of the Sirens
The myths served many functions for the Greeks. Which of the following purposes did they not serve?
Prophecy, showing how the world will end
About how long is Odysseus away from Ithaca?
Twenty years
Whose heart does Aeneas break?
Dido
Why did the Trojans take the gigantic wooden horse within the city’s walls?
The Greeks expected them to leave it outside the gates, which would offend Athena.
Why is Achilles killed by an arrow in his heel?
His mother had been holding him by the heel when she dipped him in the River Styx.
Which of the following were all great Greek heroes in the Trojan War?
Menelaus, Agamemnon, and Ajax
From which three goddesses does Paris have to choose the fairest?
Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera
Which of the following does Hercules not accomplish?
Killing the Calydonian boar
What does Theseus supposedly invent?
Democracy
How does Theseus cause his father’s death?
Forgetting to change his ship’s sail
For what is Perseus most famous?
Killing Medusa
What is the name of Daedalus’s son?
Icarus
What does Bellerophon foolishly try to do?
Fly up to Olympus
How does Signy avenge her father’s death?
Locking her husband and their children in a burning house
Without whose help would Jason not have gotten the Golden Fleece?
Medea’s
What famous couple does the story of Pyramus and Thisbe most closely resemble?
Romeo and Juliet
How does Psyche betray Cupid?
Seeing what he looked like
In what practice do the flower myths of Hyacinth and Adonis probably have their roots?
Human sacrifice
How does Odysseus escape Polyphemus’s cave?
Wine, a very sharp stick, and lots of rams
How does Prometheus anger the gods?
Giving fire to humankind and tricking Zeus
What is given to Cronus to eat instead of his son, Zeus?
A rock wrapped in baby’s clothes
Who slew the Minotaur?
THESEUS
Whose mother bathed them in the River Styx as an infant, while holding them by the heel?
ACHILLES
Who was doomed to be chained to a rock for eternity and have an eagle eat their liver every day?
PROMETHEUS
Which Titan was the goddess of memory and mother of the Muses?
MNEMOSYNE
Which goddess was obliged to spend part of every year in the underworld because Hades tricked her into eating pomegranate seeds?
PERSEPHONE
Why was Arachne transformed into a spider?
SHE PRIDELY CHALLENGED ATHENA TO A WEAVING CONTEST.
Who refused to marry anyone, unless they could beat her in a foot race?
ATALANTA
Who flew too close to the sun on wings made of feathers and wax?
ICARUS
Who was the twin half-brother of Castor?
POLLUX
Which of these is not true of the sorceress Medea?
SHE GAINED HER POWERS BY KILLING HER AUNT CIRCE
Who was Polyphemus?
A CYCLOPS THAT WAS BLINDED BY ODYSSEUS
Which of these was NOT a child of Zeus?
ASCLEPIUS
Who was born by emerging fully grown from Zeus’s head?
ATHENA
Which goddess is a virgin who swore never to marry?
ARTEMIS
How did Odysseus avoid being drowned by the Sirens?
PLUG THEIR EARS WITH BEESWAX
