Mythology Allusions

Question 1

Achilles

Answer 1

born of mortal and Zeus; mother dipped him in the river Styx to give him immortality but forgot to include the heel she held him by. Eventually, during the Trojan War, he was shot in that sport and killed. An Achilles heel is the one vulnerable spot in an otherwise invulnerable thing or person

Question 2

Vulcan

Answer 2

God of fire; a blacksmith; the only god who is deformed

Question 3

Mercury

Answer 3

the messenger of the gods; wears shoes and hat with wings so he can fly very quickly. Known for living by his wits and cleverness

Question 4

Hades/Pluto

Answer 4

god of the underworld; the place itself is called Hades. Also, god of wealth (god and silver came from the earth, which he ruled)

Question 5

Apollo/Sol

Answer 5

god of the sun; patron of healing; drove a chariot that pulled the sun, so it rose and crossed the sky each day

Question 6

Athena/Minerva

Answer 6

Goddess of wisdom and warfare; was “born” full-grown and wearing armor, by springing from the head of Zeus. Her symbol is the owl. She was a great weaver and spinner; in charge of arts and crafts.

Question 7

Diana/Artemis

Answer 7

sister of Apollo; drives a chariot that carries the moon; goddess of the hunt and patron of virgins. Seen as a huntress

Question 8

Mars/Ares

Answer 8

god of warfare

Question 9

Neptune/Poseidon

Answer 9

god of the sea; often pictured with his 3-pronged scepter, the trident; has a son named Triton

Question 10

Persephone and Demeter/Ceres

Answer 10

Demeter is the goddess of agriculture and fruitfulness (fertility): guardian of marriage. Persephone is her daughter whom Hades marries and takes to Hades to live. Demeter is so unhappy without her beloved daughter that nothing can grow. A compromise is reached and Persephone spends six months on Earth with Demeter and six months below, with Hades. This is the explanation for why we have seasons (winter is when Persephone is gone and Demeter is too unhappy to make things grow).

Question 11

Narcissus and Echo

Answer 11

Narcissus was a gorgeous male who admired himself enormously. Echo loved him but he ignored her. Eventually, she was cursed with not being able to speak her own thoughts but only repeat what other said. This bothered Narcissus even more and he taunted her and she eventually wasted away so that just her voice, repeating others’ words, remained. He became so enamored with himself that he got stuck peering into a pond, admiring his reflection, and became a flower that grows there.

Question 12

Arachne

Answer 12

a mortal who was a great weaver and very proud (arrogant) of her ability. She challenged Athena to a weaving contest and won. Athena was mad and turned her into a spider, so she could weave and spin non-stop. This is where arachnids get their name. She is a symbol of the problems arrogance can cause.

Question 13

Bacchus/Dionysus

Answer 13

god of wine and revelry. Wild feasts were held in his honor, which usually turned into drunken orgies, since that was what he was in charge of.

Question 14

Psyche

Answer 14

a great mortal beauty, whom Venus was very jealous of, because of her beauty. Cupid loved her but didn’t want her to know who he was, so he visited her only in the dark. She was curious and eventually snuck a light into their meeting place and shone it suddenly in his face. He was angry for a while but eventually forgave her and had her made immortal. She became the goddess of emotion.

Question 15

Cupid/Eros

Answer 15

god of love; often pictured as a winged boy.

Question 16

Dedalus and Icarus

Answer 16

Dedalus was a great inventor who killed a rival in jealousy and feld to Crete (from Greece) where King Minos gave him refuge and put him to work. The king’s wife lusted after a gorgeous bull but he didn’t want her. She had Dedalus make her a cow suit and got in it and mated with the bull; she conceived and bore the Minotaur from this union. He had to be kept in the Labyrinth, which Dedalus designed. Eventually, Dedalus and his son, Icarus, were also imprisoned in the Labyrinth, form which they escaped by building wings from wax and feathers on which they flew away from Crete. Dedalus warned Icarus not to fly too high because the sun would melt the wax; but Icarus ignored his father, his wings melted, he fell, and subsequently drowned. Dedalus escaped safely.

Question 17

Pandora

Answer 17

The first mortal woman, sent to Earth as a punishment to man for Prometheus’s theft of fire. She brought with her a box containing all human ills, which escaped into the world when she opened the box. Only hope was left at the bottom.

Question 18

The Sirens

Answer 18

A group of nymphs who lived on an island and lured men to their destruction with their sweet singing.

Question 19

Europa

Answer 19

a princess whom Zeus abducted and raped, when he was in the form of a bull.

Question 20

Pan/Satyr

Answer 20

Pan is one of the group of satyrs, which are half man and half goat, with goat’s legs (including cloven hooves), a tail, pointy ears, and a wanton nature, who live in the woods. Pan is the god of forests, flocks, and shepherds. He usually plays pipes (a flute).

Question 21

Midas

Answer 21

was given his wish that everything that he touched would turn to gold but re- thought this idea when he killed his daughter by touching her and was near starvation because all the food he touched turned to gold. He had the spell removed eventually.

Question 22

Hercules

Answer 22

a son of Zeus and a mortal, he was famous for his great strength and endurance; he performed twelve amazing feats of strength, called the “labors of Hercules.”

Question 23

Oedipus

Answer 23

abandoned at birth by his parents, who were trying to avoid a horrible prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Raised in Corinth, he eventually fled when he heard the same prophecy. In the road, he met and killed his father, solved the riddle of the Sphinx, and then went to Thebes and married his mother, with whom he had three children. When he learned the truth, he blinded himself and went into exile.

Question 24

Zephyr

Answer 24

the west wind, which is known for being warm and soft

Question 25

Styx (river)

Answer 25

the river that divides the land of the living from Hades, the land of the dead

Question 26

Nemesis

Answer 26

the goddess of retributive justice or vengeance

Question 27

Aphrodite/Venus

Answer 27

goddess of love and beauty (and spring and bloom)

Question 28

Adonis

Answer 28

a mortal youth who was loved by Aphrodite for his great beauty and later killed by a wild boar.

Question 29

Centaur

Answer 29

a race of beings half man (front) and half horse, known for fighting and lustiness (but sometimes for great wisdom!).

Question 30

Minotaur

Answer 30

monster half man and half bull, wild and violent, demands sacrifices yearly of Greek youths and maidens. Imprisoned in the Labyrinth (see Daedalus). Eventually slain by Theseus with the help of the king’s daughter, who gives him a ball of string so he can find his way out of the Labyrinth.

Question 31

Paris

Answer 31

son of the last king of Troy (Priam), he is forced to award a golden apple (inscribed “for the fairest”) to either Aphrodite, who promises him the love of the most beautiful woman in the word; Hera, who offers him great wealth; or Athena, who offers him wisdom. He chooses Aphrodite, who helps him steal Helen, who’s married to Menaleus of Sparta. He takes her to Troy and the Greeks come after and we have the Trojan War.

Question 32

Phoenix

Answer 32

a bird that is immortal, but dies in a self-built pyre every 500 or 600 years and is then reborn from the ashes; a symbol of rebirth and/or immortality.

Question 33

Cyclops

Answer 33

a race of one-eyed giants of whom the most famous is Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon; he was blinded by Odysseus.

Question 34

Prometheus

Answer 34

a Titan (gods who were succeeded by Zeus and company, the Olympian gods) who stole fire from the gods and gave it to man. As a punishment, he was chained to a rock and had his liver eaten out every day by an eagle. The liver grew back each night, only to be eaten out the next day. Eventually, he was released by Hercules.