Myths about the gods

Question 1

What is the story of Aphrodite’s birth?

Answer 1

Cronus castrated Ouranos, and the genitals landed in the sea and mixed with the sea foam and Aphrodite was born from that

Question 2

What is the story of Hephaestus’ birth?

Answer 2

Hera was angry at Zeus for being unfaithful, so she conceived a child asexually. He was born with a deformity, so she threw him off Mount Olympus. He lands in the ocean and is raised by sea nymphs before returning to the gods

Question 3

What is the story of Athena’s birth?

Answer 3

Zeus had heard a prophecy from Gaia and Ouranos that Metis was prophesied to give birth to a child that will be more powerful than Zeus and will overthrow him. Zeus doesn’t want that, so he swallows her and she ceases to exist. Later, Zeus gets a terrible headache, so Hephaestus cracks his skull open and Athena comes out in full grown in bronze armour and ready for battle.

Question 4

What is the story of Dionysus’ birth?

Answer 4

Zeus falls in love with Semele, a mortal princess, and he visits her at night. Hera finds out, goes down to earth and disguises herself as a handmaiden in the palace. She talks to Semele about Zeus and says that he should prove that he’s a god. Later, Semele asks Zeus to reveal his true form, and because he agreed to do whatever she asked, he does and it kills her. She was pregnant, so Zeus takes the fetus out and implants it in his thigh, and he later gives birth to Dionysus that way

Question 5

What is the first being in Hesiod’s Theogony?

Answer 5

Chaos: neither light or dark, just an empty space of nothingness

Question 6

What 4 deities come out of Chaos in the Theogony?

Answer 6

Night, Eros, Tartarus, Gaia

Question 7

What 2 deities does Gaia produce in the Theogony?

Answer 7

Uranus/Ouranos and Pontus

Question 8

What race do Gaia and Ouranos produce? Which 3 are especially important?

Answer 8

The Titans. Cronus, Rhea, and Iapetus

Question 9

Why did Gaia convince the Titans to attack Ouranos?

Answer 9

Ouranos was abusive, didn’t want the Titans taking over, so he hid them in a cave in the earth

Question 10

Who is Oceanus?

Answer 10

The river that is the boundary of the world

Question 11

Who are the muses?

Answer 11

Goddesses invoked to assist the poet, they give access to divine knowledge

Question 12

Who is born from the blood of Ouranos?

Answer 12

The furies and the giants

Question 13

Who does night give birth to asexually?

Answer 13

Horrific abstractions (strife, neglect, pain, famine, etc) and the Fates

Question 14

What do Phorcys and Ceto (sea gods) produce?

Answer 14

Monsters

Question 15

What do Tethys and Oceanus produce?

Answer 15

All the rivers of the world

Question 16

Who is Styx?

Answer 16

The divine authority that makes sure that the gods go through on their oaths, or they get immobilized for 10 years

Question 17

How does Rhea prevent Cronus from eating Zeus?

Answer 17

She gives him a rock instead, and hides Zeus. He is raised by nymphs in Crete until he’s an adult

Question 18

What is the Titanomachy?

Answer 18

Zeus gathering allies and overthrowing the Titans, by suppressing them with his thunderbolt, he locks them in Tartarus.

Question 19

Who gives Zeus his thunderbolt?

Answer 19

The 100-handers: Obriareos, Kottos, and Gyges

Question 20

What is the story that established the sacrificial relationship between gods and humans?

Answer 20

In the past, humans often dined with the gods. Prometheus intended to trick Zeus, he gives him a choice between 2 plates of meat: one is the good cuts and the other is the bones and entrails hidden in the fat. Zeus knows it’s a trick, so he decides the plate of bones, entrails and fat will be the portion the gods always get, while the humans eat the good portions of the meat.. The humans would always from then on sacrifice the fat and bones to the gods and eat the rest, and they would no longer dine with the gods

Question 21

What did Zeus do to punish Prometheus for the trick with the meat and the fat and bones?

Answer 21

Took fire away from humans. Prometheus steals the fire and gives it back to the humans, and Zeus chains him to a rock at the edge of the earth and has an eagle eat his liver every day

Question 22

Who is Typhon?

Answer 22

A horrible monster made of different parts of different animals. He is part snake, bird, lion. Is created by Gaia to get rid of Zeus

Question 23

How do the other gods react to Typhon?

Answer 23

They are terrified and hide in Egypt in animal form

Question 24

Who are the 3 wives of Zeus? What children do they have?

Answer 24

Metis: Zeus had swallowed her and he gave birth to Athena
Themis: create children of positive abstract concepts (justice, right, etc), Zeus leaves her
Hera: final permanent marriage, had Hebe, Ares, Eileithyia

Question 25

What is the story of Lycaon?

Answer 25

Jupiter is afraid the laws he had laid out weren’t being followed, so he goes down to earth and meets Lycaon. Lycaon doubts that he is a god, so he kills another one of his guests, cooks them, and tries to serve them to Jupiter. Jupiter recognizes this is a major crime, overturns the table and turns Lycaon into a wolf for his bestial nature

Question 26

What is the story of the flood?

Answer 26

Jupiter decides that the humans are too corrupt and decides to flood the earth to wipe them out. The other gods are initially worried about not being able to get their sacrifices, but after Jupiter assures them that he will create another race of humans after he wipes out these ones, they agree to help him. Jupiter makes it rain for days and Neptune floods the oceans and rivers. After a while, Deucalion and Pyrrha are the only survivors, and Jupiter is so amazed that they survived that he doesn’t kill them. They go and see the Oracle of Themis, who tells them to throw the bones of their mother behind their backs. They throw stones behind their backs, Gaea being the mother, and they become humans when they land

Question 27

What is the story of Apollo and Daphne?

Answer 27

Apollo mocks Cupid for his archery, so Cupid shoots an arrow of gold at Apollo to cause love and shoots an arrow of lead at Daphne to cause revulsion. Apollo sees her, instantly falls in love, and starts chasing after her. Daphne doesn’t want anything to do with him, so she runs away from him. Apollo has absolutely no idea why she’s running away.. Daphne prays to the gods to remain a virgin forever, and she gets turned into a laurel tree. Apollo can finally catch up to her as a tree, and he decides that if he can’t have her, the laurel tree will become a symbol of his power

Question 28

What is the story of Io and Jupiter?

Answer 28

Io is a river nymph, and Jupiter falls in love with her. He goes down to earth, forces himself on her, and calls a dark cloud to hide his crime. Juno notices one single dark cloud in the middle of a sunny day, and goes down to investigate. Jupiter turns Io into a cow before Juno shows up, but Juno knows exactly what’s going on, and asks Jupiter to give her that lovely cow as a gift. Jupiter can’t say no. Juno has an immortal herdsman (Argus) lead Io all around the earth without ever stopping to rest to torture her. When she comes by her father’s river, she scratches her name in the dirt and her sisters realize it’s her, but they can’t do anything to help her. Jupiter wants to stop her suffering, so he sends Mercury down to kill Argus. Mercury tells Argus the story of Pan and Syrinx to make him fall asleep and then Mercury kills him. But Juno implants a madness in Io’s mind and compels her to keep wandering anyways. After Io arrives in Egypt, Jupiter comes down, turns her into human form, and impregnates her with a single touch. She is worshipped as a goddess in Egypt, and the child Epaphos is the father of Danaus and Aegyptus.

Question 29

What is the story of Phaethon?

Answer 29

Phaethon is told by his mother that he is the son of the sun god Helios, so he goes to his palace and asks Helios to prove that he’s his father. (Another blank cheque promise) He asks Helios to let him drive the sun chariot for that day, and Helios has to let him. He shows Phaethon how to drive the chariot, and tries to discourage him from doing it. Phaethon does fine at first, but then he loses control. He flies too high and threatens to burn the heavens, he flies too low and scorches the earth. Jupiter realizes something is wrong, and hurls a thunderbolt at Phaethon, knocking him out of the chariot and causing him to fall to his death. The chariot goes back to Helios and everything is normal again.

Question 30

What is the story of Pandora?

Answer 30

Pandora is the first women. She was created by Hephaestus and other goddesses helped create her as a punishment for humankind. She is given to Epimetheus along with a jar containing the evils of the world that they’re told not to open. They do open it, and unleash all the troubles of the world, when they put the lid back on, only Hope is left.

Question 31

What does Hermes do on his first day?

Answer 31

Invents the lyre, steals Apollo’s cattle, invents flints, sacrifice, and tricks Maia, Zeus, and Apollo

Question 32

How does Hermes create the lyre?

Answer 32

He gets distracted by a tortoise, kills it, and turns its shell into the lyre, which he then returns to his bassinet

Question 33

How does Hermes steal Apollo’s cattle?

Answer 33

He puts reed mats on his feet to make it look like a huge monster instead of a baby god took them, and reverses the hooves of the cows to make it look like they’re walking towards the pen

Question 34

After getting the cattle out of the pen, what happens?

Answer 34

Hermes becomes hungry, which is unusual for an immortal being that usually only need nectar, ambrosia, and sacrifice aroma. He cooks one of the cows and divides the meat into 12 portions and eats one, asserting himself as one of the 12 Olympians as a sacrifice to himself. He leads the cows back to the mountain and stows them in the forest, then goes back to sleep in the bassinet.

Question 35

What happens once Apollo realizes his cows are missing?

Answer 35

He is terrified at first, because it looks like a huge monster took them, but a local farmer saw what happened and tells Apollo that it’s a little baby god. Apollo follows the tracks, bursts into the cave and threatens to throw Hermes into Tartarus. Hermes claims he’s just a baby, how could he possibly steal cows. Says he’s not guilty and didn’t see anyone else, but doesn’t directly say he did it. Apollo takes him to Zeus to get Zeus to punish him, but Zeus is proud and makes Hermes the god of thieves and deception. Apollo is not happy. Hermes has the lyre with him and starts to play it, and Apollo is completely mesmerized. Hermes trades the lyre to Apollo for the stolen cattle and dominion over herding.

Question 36

What are the stories of Artemis and a) Iphigenia, b)Actaeon, c)Orion, and d)Hippolytus

Answer 36

a) Iphigenia’s father brags about hunting better than Artemis, and that makes her angry, so she demands that he sacrifices Iphigenia.
b) Doesn’t want to leave the domain of Artemis, just wants to hunt and be in the woods. He accidentally sees Artemis while she’s bathing, and she kills him
c) Behaves like Actaeon and doesn’t want to leave the domain of Artemis, but he attacks one of her nymphs and Artemis kills him.
d) Aphrodite is mad that he doesn’t want to leave the domain of Artemis, so she makes his mother fall in love with him. Ultimately his father Theseus is responsible for his death

Question 37

What are the stories of Apollo and a) Hyacinthus, and b) the children of Niobe

Answer 37

a) Hyacinthus is a mortal companion of Apollo, and he accidentally kills him with a discus throw
b) Niobe brags about having more children than Leto, so Artemis kills the girls and Apollo kills the boys

Question 38

What do the stories of Artemis and Apollo being associated with the deaths of those entering adulthood show?

Answer 38

Some kind of death, the death of childhood, is part of the transition to adulthood

Question 39

Why is Apollo feared by the other gods except by Zeus and Leto?

Answer 39

He is arrogant and very powerful. His music compels the other gods to dance, something many of them don’t normally do (like Ares)

Question 40

Why wouldn’t any of the islands accept Leto? Which island finally does?

Answer 40

Hera told them to refuse Leto, told them about a prophecy. Delos finally accepts her, she says Apollo will attract pilgrims to the island

Question 41

Why does Apollo leave Delos after his birth?

Answer 41

Goes to tell the world about himself and found his temple

Question 42

After leaving, where does Apollo go?

Answer 42

First comes to Orchamenos, where there’s a sanctuary to Poseidon. Telphousa tells him he won’t like having his temple there, says he should go to Mount Parnassus and Delphi. So Apollo goes there. He finds a dragon/serpent called Python, and he kills it. He puts the foundations of the temple there, and abducts a boat full of merchants to become his priests

Question 43

How are the perspectives of Demeter and Persephone different from the perspective of Hades and Zeus?

Answer 43

The male perspective of Hades and Zeus thought the arranged marriage as perfectly fine and normal. The female perspective of Demeter and Persephone views it as an assault and a criminal abduction

Question 44

What is the story of the abduction of Persephone?

Answer 44

Persephone is on the earth picking flowers with her nymphs, and Hades comes out of the ground, puts Persephone in his chariot and takes her to the underworld. Persephone is unaware that this would happen, and her scream is heard by Demeter and Hecate. Demeter comes down to earth and starts looks for Persephone, and meets with Hecate, and they go to see Helios. Helios saw that it was Hades, and this was arranged between Hades and Zeus. Demeter revolts against the decision of Zeus. She rejects being with the other gods and turns herself into an old women and goes to Elusis. She looks for work and is employed by the royal family to take care of their newborn son Demophoon. Demeter gives powers to Demophoon, to make him immortal by breathing her ambrosial breath on him and placing him in the coals of the fire at night. She gets caught doing this, and the family freaks out, so Demeter reveals herself as a goddess. She berates the mortals for interfering in her plans and demands that they build her a temple. After they build it, Demeter sits in the temple and broods and mourns. She withdraws her power from the earth, and crops fail, animals die, and causes famine everywhere. The gods aren’t getting their sacrifices, so they complain to Zeus and Zeus goes down to Elusis to negotiate with Demeter. Demeter won’t return her power to the earth until she gets Persephone back, so she does. Demeter asks Persephone if she had eaten anything from the underworld, and she had eaten a pomegranate seed. Persephone is now bound to the underworld, and Demeter mourns this. She arranges that Persephone will stay in the upper world for 2/3 of the year and remain in the underworld for the other third.

Question 45

What is the story of Adonis?

Answer 45

Aphrodite falls in love with Adonis, but while he’s out hunting, he gets gored by a boar and dies. In the underworld, Persephone decides that she likes him and won’t give him back to Aphrodite. They compromise and Adonis spends half the year with Aphrodite and the other half with Persephone

Question 46

What is the story of Aphrodite and Anchises?

Answer 46

Zeus is suddenly embarrassed about all his affairs, and he blames Aphrodite for it. He doesn’t like Aphrodite looking like the most powerful for being able to make all the other gods fall in love with mortals. He turns her power against her and makes her fall in love with Anchises, a Trojan prince. Aphrodite goes down to earth, sees Anchises, and immediately runs away to Cyprus. She puts on all her best clothes and jewelry and goes back to Anchises. He recognizes her a goddess, but she tells him she’s a mortal princess sent to be his wife. They go and mate, and then Anchises falls asleep. Aphrodite reveals herself as a goddess and Anchises is terrified because goddesses usually kill mortals for doing that. She says she’s going to give him a child, Aeneas, and she won’t kill him as long as he doesn’t tell anyone that Aphrodite is the mother of Aeneas.