Greek Mythology: the Heroes of the Trojan War and more

Question 1

Greatest of all Greek heroes

Answer 1

Heracles

Question 2

Heracles is easily recognizable in art by:

Answer 2

his impenetrable lion-skin cape, club and bow

Question 3

Who was rewarded after death with immortality among the gods?

Answer 3

Heracles

Question 4

Who are Heracles’ parents?

Answer 4

Born to Zeus and Alcmene, the wife of Amphitryon (Zeus seduced Alcmene in the guise of her own husband, just before Amphitryon himself came to her bed)

Question 5

Heracles made love to _____ of _______

Answer 5

Made love to the 50 daughters of Thespius (in some versions he did this in one night), fathered a child with each, and twins with the oldest and youngest daughters

Question 6

Who did Heracles choose between Vice and Virtue?

Answer 6

Vice promised a path of pleasure, while Virtue promised a long and difficult path of duty and labour. After much deliberation, he chose the path of Virtue

Question 7

Who is the king Heracles killed?

Answer 7

Killed king Erginus and vanquished his army single-handedly

Question 8

Who did Heracles marry?

Answer 8

Married Megara, who bore Heracles several children

Question 9

What did Heracles do after he returned to sanity?

Answer 9

He sought purification for his deeds at the Oracle at Delphi. He served Tiryns’ king for 12 years, which would grant him immortality.

Question 10

What did Heracles receive from Apollo, Hermes, Hephaestus, Poseidon, and Athena?

Answer 10

He was well equipped: a bow and arrows from Apollo, a sword from Hermes, a golden breastplate from Hephaestus, horses from Poseidon, a robe from Athena, and a club he fashioned for himself

Question 11

What are the 12 labours of Heracles?

Answer 11

The Nemean Lion
The Hydra
The Ceryneian Hind
The Erymanthian Boar
The Stables of Augeas
The Stymphalian Birds
The Cretan Bull
The Mares of Diomedes
The Belt of Hippolyte
The Cattle of Geryon
The Golden Apples of Hesperides
The Hellhound Cerberus

Question 12

How did Heracles die?

Answer 12

Heracles came to a tragic end, accidentally killed by a jealous lover, who smeared his cloak with poisonous hydra blood instead of what she believed was a love-charm, effectively burning away his flesh. He had only enough time to arrange his own funeral pyre before he died
In death, he is granted immortality and makes amends with Hera

Question 13

How was Perseus made?

Answer 13

Danae was locked away by king Acrisius of Argos because of a prophecy of her son killing the king. Zeus came to her as a shower of golden rain, through an aperture in her cell - Perseus was the result of their union

Question 14

How did Perseus know where to find Medusa?

Answer 14

Perseus first visited the 3 Graeae (‘Old Women’), sisters of the Gorgons, and who shared one eye, and one tooth.
Perseus stole their eye until they told him where to find Medusa

Question 15

Who chopped of Medusa’s head?

Answer 15

Perseus

Question 16

Who founded Mycenae?

Answer 16

Perseus

Question 17

Great grandfather of Heracles

Answer 17

Perseus

Question 18

Theseus’ parents?

Answer 18

Son of Aegeus, King of Athens, and of Aethra (though Poseidon also visited her bed that fateful night, so many believe him to be the son of a god)

Question 19

Why did Theseus slew the Minotaur?

Answer 19

to stop the yearly human sacrifices

Question 20

Who is one of Jason’s Argonauts, a band of adventurous heroes?

Answer 20

Theseus

Question 21

Who are Theseus’ love interests?

Answer 21

the daughters of Minos, an Amazon queen, Helen of Sparta, and even Persephone

Question 22

How did Theseus die?

Answer 22

Died after being tricked and pushed off of a cliff

Question 23

Who is Bellerophon?

Answer 23

A gallant young warrior

Question 24

Oedipus’ parents?

Answer 24

Laius, King of Thebes, and Jocasta

Question 25

What is Oedipus known for?

Answer 25

Famously written about in Greek tragedy as the man who unwittingly killed his own father, married his mother, had four children with her (after which, once the incest was learned, she killed herself), plucked out his own eyes in disgrace, and wandered the world a polluted exile until death (accompanied only by his steadfast daughter)

Question 26

What does Oedipus mean?

Answer 26

Name means ‘swollen foot’, given to him because his feet were pierced together as a baby

Question 27

When did the Heroes of the Trojan War exist?

Answer 27

1194 BCE - 1184 BCE

Question 28

Achilles' parents?

Answer 28

Peleus, King of Phthia in Thessaly, and the sea-goddess, Thetis

Question 29

What did Achilles' mother try to do?

Answer 29

His mother tried to make him immortal, but was only mostly successful. She either tried to burn off his mortality in a fire and then anoint him with ambrosia from the gods - a task left incomplete as Peleus angrily interfered... Or, she dipped him into the River Styx, making him completely invulnerable, except for the heel in which she held him.

Question 30

Achilles' etymologies?

Answer 30

Achilles’ heel - someone’s weak spot; Achilles’ Tendon

Question 31

Achilles' best friend?

Answer 31

Patroclus

Question 32

When the Greeks were gathering troops, the cunning Odysseus tricked Achilles into revealing his identity, how?

Answer 32

by sounding a war trumpet - Achilles sprang into action

Question 33

What happened when Achilles' joined Greece's war efforts?

Answer 33

He swore no oaths to fight for Greece. He brought 50 ships from his own kingdom as well as his Myrmidons and Patroclus

Question 34

Sing, Muse, the wrath of Peleus’ son, _____, the accursed wrath that brought countless sorrows on the Greeks, hurled down to Hades the souls of many brave heroes, and left their corpses a prey for the dogs, and all the birds...

Answer 34

Achilles

Question 35

Achilles wanted more to receive

Answer 35

Fame or glory (folkloric element for heroes)

Question 36

Achilles makes a deal that he is ____, but he is always going to _____

Answer 36

He makes a deal that he is going to die young, but he is always going to be remembered

Question 37

_____, who is a semi-divine goddess in mythology is very potent, keeping us alive in the memory of others

Answer 37

Memory

Question 38

A prince of Troy, eldest son of King Priam and Hecuba, husband to Andromache, and the greatest of the Trojan heroes

Answer 38

Hector

Question 39

____ was the captain of the guard, leading the Trojan army into battle; he killed the first Greek to set foot on the Trojan beach

Answer 39

Hector

Question 40

Who duels then parts in friendship, respect, and exchanged gifts?

Answer 40

Hector and Ajax; Hector’s sword for Ajax sword-belt

Question 41

Then glorious ____ leapt inside, his face like the onset of night. He gleamed in fearful bronze that girded his skin, and brandished two spears. No one but a god could have come against him and stopped him as he burst through the gates, his eyes blazing with fire. Turning, he shouted to the mass of Trojans to climb over the wall and they obeyed his ord

Answer 41

Hector

Question 42

What is Ajax also known as?

Answer 42

the Great Ajax

Question 43

Who is Ajax's father?

Answer 43

Telamon, King of Salamis (friend of Heracles)

Question 44

Who did Heracles wrap in his Nemean lion cape, and wherever it touched that baby's skin skin, he became invulnerable - only one vital spot on his side was missed

Answer 44

Ajax

Question 45

____ was one of Helen's suitors, but she married _____

Answer 45

Ajax was one of Helen's suitors, but she married Menelaus

Question 46

Who is close friends with Achilles?

Answer 46

Ajax

Question 47

How long was Odysseus away from home?

Answer 47

20 years

Question 48

Who recruited Achilles?

Answer 48

Odysseus

Question 49

Who is Eris?

Answer 49

Strife

Question 50

Apple for the fairest, fought over _____

Answer 50

Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite

Question 51

____ promised ____ the most beautiful woman in the world, ____, who was the wife of ___, King of ___

Answer 51

Aphrodite promised him the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen, who was the wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta

Question 52

Where did Paris bring Helen?

Answer 52

to Troy

Question 53

Who is Menelaus' brother?

Answer 53

Agamemnon (King of Mycenae)

Question 54

War breaks out, but the Trojans stay in their impregnable fortress, while the ___ lay siege for __ years

Answer 54

Greeks; 9

Question 55

On the ___ year, __ removes himself from the fighting, because the arrogant Agamemnon steals his concubine, ___

Answer 55

On the 10th year, Achilles removes himself from the fighting, because the arrogant Agamemnon steals his concubine, Briseis

Question 56

Hector battles with ___ thinking he is Achilles, and kills him

Answer 56

Patroclus

Question 57

“He drew his sharp sword, huge and sturdy, from by his side, and gathering himself, he swooped like a high-flying eagle...swinging his sword, and __ rushed at him, his heart within him full of savage wrath”

Answer 57

Achilles

Question 58

Achilles releases Hector’s body to ___ for proper burial

Answer 58

King Priam

Question 59

How is Achilles killed?

Answer 59

An arrow shot by Paris, guided by Apollo

Question 60

Who is made insane by Athena and ends up killing a flock of sheep and soon falls on a sword ___ gave to him?

Answer 60

Ajax; Hector

Question 61

Is Paris dead at the end?

Answer 61

Yes

Question 62

Who is King Midas?

Answer 62

King of Phrygia

Question 63

Who are the Furies?

Answer 63

A.k.a. The Erinyes. Goddesses of retribution who exacted punishment for murder and other serious crimes, particularly of kin against kin. Born from the blood of Ouranus' genitals