Mythology Introduction Toss-Ups Flashcards
Which Greek Olympian was called the “Earthshaker” because he was responsible for earthquakes?
Poseidon, Week 1
By what collective name do we know the sisters Euryale, Stheno, and Medusa?
Gorgons, Week 1
What ruler of Olympus relied on his thunderbolts to help maintain order?
Zeus / Jupiter, Week 1
Equipped with the caduceus and winged sandals, what messenger god led souls to the underworld?
Hermes / Mercury, Week 1
What whirlpool-like monster made it impossible for Odysseus’ ships to pass safely through the Straits of Messina?
Charybdis, Week 1
Reared by the Lycian King Amisodarus, what creature had the head of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a snake?
Chimaera, Week 1
By what collective name do we know the daughters of Zeus and Themis who presided over Justice, Peace, and Order?
Seasons / Horae, Week 1
Upon which river in the Underworld did the Gods swear their oaths?
Styx, Week 1
Phlegethon, Acheron, Lethe, Cocytus, and Styx all belong to what group?
Rivers of the Underworld, Week 1
Which of the Muses is often depicted holding a tragic mask and a wreath of vines because of her connection with the theater?
Melpomene, Week 1
What group of sisters, concieved when Zeus lay with Mnemosyne for nine nights, were the patronesses of various arts?
Muses, Week 1
What group of one-eyed giants were in charge of forging Zeus’ thunderbolts?
Cyclopes, Week 1
According to Ovid, what god enduced the Theban women who followed him to create chaos while intoxicated by his wine?
Bacchus (not Dionysus), Week 1
According to Homer, which god created a new shield for Achilles?
Hephaestus (not Vulcan), Week 1
What Greek goddess of wisdom was born from Zeus’ head?
Athena, Week 1
The word “Cereal” derives from the name of what Roman goddess of agriculture?
Ceres, Week 1
According to Homer, who was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea?
Zeus (not Jupiter), Week 1
According to Hesiod’s Theogony, what river in the Underworld was the oldest of the children of Oceanus and Tethys?
Styx, Week 1
Who asked Zeus to give her the following as gifts: 60 ocean nymphs to be her companions; 20 river nymphs from Crete to look after her hunting gear and her hounds; bow and arrows; and eternal virginity?
Artemis, Week 1
Who was protected from his father’s cannibalism by noises made by the clashing of the spears and shields of the Corybantes?
Zeus, Week 1
Whose rude laughter at the way Demeter greedily drank barley water resulted in his transformation into a lizard?
Ascalabus, Week 2
From the blood of what Spartan youth did Apollo cause a flower to grow after accidentally killing him with a discus?
Hyacinthus, Week 2
Which Greek deity had the epithet “Promachos”?
Athena, Week 2
Who twiced punished by Demeter in the underworld - first trapped under a heavy stone, and later transformed into an owl?
Ascalaphus, Week 2
Who blinded Polymnestor for killing her youngest son and was transformed into a fiery-eyed dog?
Hecuba, Week 2
Into what were the tears of the Heliades transformed?
amber, Week 2
What couple, riding an oxcart, led the Encheleans into various wars until that tribe was routed and they were transformed into snakes?
Cadmus & Harmonia, Week 2
What woman from Colophon dared to challenge Athena to a weaving contest and as a result was transformed into a spider?
Arachne, Week 2
What daughter of Peneius was changed into a Laurel tree as she fled from Apollo
Daphne, Week 2
Into what was Clytie transformed because of her jealous actions against her sister Leucothoe?
sunflower, Week 2
What son of Cephissus & Leiriope fell in love with his own reflection and wasted away watching it?
Narcissus, Week 2
Which Greek deity had the epithet “Ennosigaeus”, meaning “Earth-shaker”?
Poseidon, Week 2
Which Greek deity had the epithet “Argeiphontes”, meaning “killer of Argus”?
Hermes, Week 2
Which Greek deity had the epithets “Anadyomene”, and “Cytheria”
Aphrodite, Week 2
Which pious couple offered to kill their pet goose to provide a meal for a pair of disguised gods?
Baucis & Philemon, Week 2
Which Greek deity had the epithets “Delphinius”, and “Smintheus”
Apollo, Week 2
Which Greek Olympian does Homer call “Nephelegereta” meaning “the cloud gatherer”?
Zeus, Week 2
After she brought about her father’s death by cutting her purple lock of hair, who was changed into a ciris bird?
Scylla, Week 2
What Ligurian musician was changed into a swan as he mourned for his friend Phaethon?
Cycnus, Week 2
While grieving over the loss of his daughter who flung himself from a cliff and was transformed into a hawk?
Daedalion, Week 2
Who was given a pair of bronze castanets to assist in chasing the birds away from Lake Stymphalus?
Heracles, Week 3
For which of his labors did Heracles change the course of the Alpheius & Peneius rivers?
Cleaning the Augeian Stables, Week 3
What daughter of Creon did Heracles inadvertently kill in a fit of madness enduced by Hera?
Megara, Week 3
Who took refuge in a bronze jar because he was terrified by the sight of the Nemean Lion?
Eurystheus, Week 3
For which of his labors did Heracles demand the payment of one tenth of a herd of cattle?
Cleaning the Augeian Stables, Week 3
Who helped Heracles defeat the Hydra?
Iolaus, Week 3
What Bistonian king did Heracles feed to his own flesh eating horses?
Diomedes, Week 3
Heracles first ventured beyond the Peloponnese in order to retrieve what creature as his seventh labor for Eurystheus?
Cretan Bull, Week 3
Who terrified by the sight of the Nemean Lion hid in a bronze jar?
Eurystheus, Week 3
For which of his labors did Heracles receive help from his nephew Iolaus?
Killing the Hydra, Week 3
What fisherman gave shelter to Danae and her son Perseus?
Dictys, Week 3
Who was the maiden rescued from a sea monster by Perseus?
Andromeda, Week 3
What mythological king of Mycenae, an ancestor of Heracles, was born in a bronze chamber?
Perseus, Week 3
From whom did Perseus learn the whereabouts of the nymphs who kept the weapons that were necessary for his quest to find and slay Medusa?
Graeae, Week 3
Who fled to Larisa only to be killed there with a discus by his grandson Perseus?
Acrisius, Week 3
What king of Seriphos gave Perseus the task of bringing back the head of the Gorgon Medusa?
Polydectys, Week 3
For which of his labors did Heracles sail beyond the river Oceanus in a huge golden cup?
retreiving cattle of Geryon, Week 3
After pursuing it for a year all over Arcadia, what creature did Heracles finally ensnare in a bed of nets near the Ladon River?
Cerynithian Hind, Week 3
Who had told Deianeira that a cloak soaked in his blood would ensure Heracles’ faithfulness?
Nessus , Week 3
Whose girdle was thought to bestow some magical properties on its possessor and was involved in one of the labors of Hercules?
Hippolyta, Week 3
Who encountered Cytissorus, Phrontis, Melas, and Argus shipwrecked, and brought them on the voyage to Colchis?
Argonauts / Jason, Week 4
Who was carried to Colchis by a flying ram with a golden fleece?
Phrixus, Week 4
After forcing fire-breathing bulls into submission, who yoked them to a plow and used them to sow a field with dragon’s teeth?
Jason, Week 4
What king was fated to die if strangers carried of the golden fleece?
Aeetes, Week 4
What son of Arestor built the ship which allowed Jason to sail to Colchis?
Argus, Week 4
Who successfully sailed through the symplegades in route to Colchis on his journey to obtain the Golden Fleece?
Jason, Week 4
What creature was wounded first by Atalanta and Amphiaraus before Meleager killed it?
Calydonian Boar, Week 4
Who killed his uncles Toxeus & Plexippus in a dispute over the hyde of the Calydonian Boar?
Meleager, Week 4
Whose life did Atropos declare would last as long as a firebrand?
Meleager, Week 4
What maiden was temporarily condemned to the island of Naxos after she was abandoned by Theseus?
Ariadne, Week 4
Who found joy in watching the recoil of a bent pine tree fling passersby to their death?
Sinis / Pityocamptes, Week 4
The inhabitants of Delos, commemorating the visit of Theseus danced in intricate patterns in order to imitate the windings of what Cretan structure?
labyrinth, Week 4
Who admired Heracles so much that he choose the perilous land route across the Isthmus of Corinth, in hopes of facing similar challenges?
Theseus, Week 4
Who neglected his father’s request to change the color of his black sail upon returning to Athens, causing his father to leap to his death?
Theseus, Week 4
What daughter of Minos did Theseus abandon on Naxos after she helped him escape the Labyrinth?
Ariadne, Week 4
What bandit was accustomed to making strangers fit his bed, until Theseus ended his life in the same manner?
Procrustes, Week 4
What Isthmian outlaw killed by Theseus would kick strangers off a cliff where they would become victim to a giant turtle below?
Sceiron, Week 4
What two tokens of his birth did Theseus have to find under a rock?
a sword & sandals, Week 4
Who gave birth to a son who grew up to be strong enough to move a heavy stone and claim the sword and sandals under it?
Aethra, Week 4
What sort of animal was the beast called Phaea, which Theseus killed at Crommyon?
boar / pig / sow, Week 4
What hero rode the winged horse Pegasus?
Bellerophon, Week 5
King Proetus became angry when his wife falsely accused what young man of trying to seduce her?
Bellerophon, Week 5
Who gave Bellerophon a magic bridle with which to tame Pegasus?
Athena / Minerva, Week 5
Which of Iobates’ daughters falsely accused Bellerophon of lusting over her?
Anteia / Stheboea, Week 5
What king of Argos purified Bellerophon of the sin of murder?
Proetus, Week 5
What winged creature was the offspring of Poseidon and Medusa?
Pegasus, Week 5
What king of Lycia ordered Bellerophon to kill the Chimaera?
Iobates, Week 5
Who received a letter instructing him to kill its messenger because he had allegedly seduced the wife of Proetus?
Iobates, Week 5
After Bellerophon killed the Chimaera, against what bellicose tribe was he sent to fight singlehandedly?
Solymi, Week 5
Against what other tribe was Bellerophon sent for his third task?
Amazons, Week 5
What son of Glaucus and Eurynome received his new name when he was exiled from Corinth for killing the merchant Bellerus?
Bellerophon, Week 5
After Bellerophon proved to Iobates that there was no task he could send him on that would kill him, what daughter did Iobates promise him in marriage?
Philonoe, Week 5
What king of Thebes refused to give up power when his year to rule was up?
Eteocles, Week 5
What Argive king helped Polyneices by putting together an army to march on Thebes?
Adrastus, Week 5
What king of Argos yoked his daughters to a boar and a lion and attempted to put his son-in-law back on the throne of Thebes by leading an expedition of seven heroes, commonly known as the “Seven Against Thebes”?
Adrastus, Week 5
Which of the sons of Oedipus sought help from Adrastus to recover the throne of Thebes?
Polyneices, Week 5
Who had decreed that it was illegal to bury the body of Polyneices, the brother of Ismene?
Creon, Week 5
Which of the Seven Against Thebes was compelled to go on the expedition because his wife had accepted a bribe from Polyneices?
Amphiaraus, Week 5
When she was bribed with Harmonia’s necklace, who forced her husband Amphiaraus to join the Seven Against Thebes?
Eriphyle, Week 5
What son of Creon was the fiancé of Antigone?
Haemon, Week 5
What ithacan swineherd remained faithful to Odysseus?
Eumaeus, Week 6
What island did Odysseus call home for 7 years while under the charms of Calypso?
Ogygia, Week 6
What son of Ctesius served as Odysseus’ loyal swineherd?
Eumaeus, Week 6
Agenor, Leodes, Amphimedon, Eurymachus, and Antinous were all suitors of what Ithacan queen?
Penelope, Week 6
Who slaughtered several sheep which he thought were the Greek chieftains and killed himself in shame after losing the contest for Achilles’ armor?
Ajax the Greater, Week 6
Who acquired a bag full of winds, which he was advised not to open until he saw the Ithaca?
Odysseus, Week 6
Who provoked the jealous rage of three goddesses when she threw an apple labeled for the most beautiful?
Eris, Week 6
Who was shocked when Calypso urged him to build a raft, after remaining captive to her spells for seven years?
Odysseus, Week 6
Who prayed to his father that “nobody” be punished for blinding his only eye with a wooden stake?
Polyphemus, Week 6
Who was tied to the mast of his ship as he sailed past the Sirens so that he could hear their song?
Odysseus, Week 6
Who unwove by night the shroud which she spun during the day in order to delay her marriage to a suitor?
Penelope, Week 6
What king was ransomed as a child from Heracles by his sister, fathered numerous children, and died at the hands of a Greek warrior as Troy was falling?
Podarces, Week 6
Who encountered the Cicones, the Lotophagi, the Phaeaecians and several others during his voyage home to Ithaca after the Trojan War?
Odysseus, Week 6
What concept, brought to life by Epeius, was originally envisioned by Odysseus and gave the Greeks a way to infiltrate the city of Troy?
Trojan Horse, Week 6
Which of the sinners of Tartarus, because he was the first mortal to murder a relative, spends his time getting dizzy on a wheel of fire?
Ixion, Week 6
What son of Laius and Jocasta inadvertently killed his father at a crossroads and married his mother?
Oedipus, Week 6
Which of the sinners of Tartarus, because he fed the flesh of his own son to the gods, spends his time trying to get food and water for himself?
Tantalus, Week 6
Because of his crimes such as handcuffing Hades, what mortal was forever forced to roll a boulder up a hill in the underworld?
Sisyphus, Week 6
What giant is eternally punished in the Underworld by having his body streched to cover nine acres while two vultures ate his heart?
Tityus, Week 6
Who in the Underworld was condemned to carry water in jars which leaked like sieves?
Danaids, Week 6
