Major Olympian Myths

Question 1

Who is Zeus married to, and what is their relationship like?

Answer 1

Zeus is married to Hera, and their marriage is tumultuous due to Zeus’s infidelities.

Question 2

Fill in the blank: Zeus’s wife, Hera, is the goddess of _____.

Answer 2

Marriage and family.

Question 3

What causes the changing seasons in the myth of Persephone?

Answer 3

Demeter’s mourning over Persephone being in the underworld causes winter, and her joy when Persephone returns causes spring and summer.

Question 4

Who abducted Persephone to be his wife?

Answer 4

Hades.

Question 5

How was the compromise between Zeus, Demeter, and Hades about Persephone’s fate reached?

Answer 5

Persephone would spend part of the year in the underworld with Hades and part with her mother Demeter, leading to the creation of seasons.

Question 6

Why did Heracles perform the 12 Labors?

Answer 6

To atone for the murder of his family.

Question 7

Fill in the blank: One of Heracles’s labors was to retrieve the three-headed dog _____.

Answer 7

Cerberus.

Question 8

Who set the 12 Labors for Heracles?

Answer 8

King Eurystheus.

Question 9

What transformation happens to Daphne to escape Apollo’s pursuit?

Answer 9

She is transformed into a laurel tree.

Question 10

Who is struck by Eros’s arrow to fall in love with Daphne?

Answer 10

Apollo.

Question 11

What did Phaethon lose control of, causing destruction on Earth?

Answer 11

The sun chariot.

Question 12

Fill in the blank: Zeus struck down Phaethon with a _____ to restore balance to the world.

Answer 12

Thunderbolt.

Question 13

Why did Athena spring fully grown from Zeus’s head?

Answer 13

Zeus swallowed her mother, Metis, and Athena was born from his head fully grown and armored.

Question 14

Fill in the blank: Athena is the goddess of _____ and _____.

Answer 14

Wisdom and war.

Question 15

What was Hephaestus’s trap for Aphrodite and Ares?

Answer 15

An invisible net that caught them during their affair.

Question 16

Who are Aphrodite’s husband and lover in the myth of her affair?

Answer 16

Her husband is Hephaestus, and her lover is Ares.

Question 17

What did baby Hermes steal from Apollo?

Answer 17

Cattle.

Question 18

How did Hermes make amends with Apollo after stealing his cattle?

Answer 18

He gave Apollo the lyre as a gift.

Question 19

What promise did Aphrodite make to Paris during the Judgment of Paris?

Answer 19

She promised him the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Sparta.

Question 20

Which goddesses competed in the Judgment of Paris?

Answer 20

Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite.

Question 21

What did Poseidon offer the Athenians during his contest with Athena?

Answer 21

A saltwater spring (or a horse, in some versions).

Question 22

Fill in the blank: Athena became the patron of Athens by offering the gift of an _____.

Answer 22

Olive tree.