Pre-State Questions—Novice

Question 1

What Roman goddess was born when she sprang out of Jupiter’s head in full armor?

Answer 1

MINERVA

B1: What Roman goddess was born from sea foam formed by Uranus’ blood?

VENUS
B2: What Roman goddess was said to have assisted with her brother Apollo’s birth when she
was just born herself?

DIANA

Question 2

Which hero used a ball of twine to escape from the Labyrinth after he had killed the Minotaur?

Answer 2

THESEUS

B1: Who was the Cretan princess who had given Theseus the ball of twine?

ARIADNE

B2: What man, the creator of the Labyrinth, used a similar trick, in which he tied a string to an ant, to string a seashell?

DAEDALUS

Question 3

What son of Anticlea blinded a cyclops?

Answer 3

ODYSSEUS

B1: What was the name of that cyclops?

POLYPHEMUS

B2: Who was Polyphemus’ father?

POSEIDON

Question 4

What constellation in the zodiac immortalizes either Apollo and Heracles, Iasion and Triptolemus, or Castor and Pollux?

Answer 4

GEMINI

B1: What constellation in the zodiac immortalizes the creatures that Aphrodite and Eros transformed themselves into when they hid from Typhon in the Euphrates River?

PISCES
B2: What constellation in the zodiac immortalizes the creature that brought Phrixus to safety in Colchis?

ARIES

Question 5

What daughter of Agenor was kidnapped by Zeus while he was disguised as a bull?

Answer 5

EUROPA

B1: Name two of the children born by Europa to Zeus.

MINOS/RHADAMANTHYS/SARPEDON

B2: What king of Thebes was Europa’s brother?

CADMUS

Question 6

What was unusual about the Mares of Diomedes, which Heracles had to retrieve for one of his labors?

Answer 6

THEY ATE PEOPLE

B1: According to some versions, how did Heracles tame the mares?

FED DIOMEDES TO THEM

B2: While traveling to Diomedes, Heracles literally wrestled with death in order to save what woman, the wife of Admetus?

ALCESTIS

Question 7

The Milky Way, the polar ice caps, and the Sahara Desert were all the result of what young man’s attempt to drive the chariot of the Sun?

Answer 7

PHAETHON(‘S)

B1: Who was strung up to the back of a chariot and drug around the walls of his home city, Troy, by Achilles?

HECTOR

B2: Who died in a chariot “accident” when his chariot fell apart during his pursuit of Pelops and his daughter Hippodameia?

OENOMAUS

Question 8

Who rescued a princess chained to a rock from a sea monster by turning the sea monster to stone with the head of Medusa?

Answer 8

PERSEUS

B1: What was the princess’ name?

ANDROMEDA

B2: Name one of the two creatures that sprung from the neck of Medusa after Perseus murdered her.

PEGASUS/ CHRYSAOR

Question 9

Who had to perform ten labors to atone for the murder of his wife, Megara?

Answer 9

HERACLES/ HERCULES

B1: Two of the original ten didn’t count, so Heracles had to complete two more labors. Name one of the two labors that didn’t count?

SEE BELOW

B2: Name the other.

KILL THE HYDRA/ CLEAN THE AUGE(I)AN STABLES

Question 10

What son of Thoosa was blinded by someone he thought was named Outis, after getting drunk and promising that he would eat Outis last?

Answer 10

POLYPHEMUS

B1: What nymph did Polyphemus love, who shared her name with a statue woman loved by Pygmalion?

GALATEA

B2: Polyphemus killed Galatea’s lover, Acis, in jealousy. Into what did Acis transform?

RIVER GOD

Question 11

In the Trojan War, who killed the Trojan prince Hector and drug his body around the walls of Troy?

Answer 11

ACHILLES

B1: What Trojan prince later killed Achilles by shooting him in the heel?

PARIS

B2: What Greek, abandoned on Lemnos, killed Paris with the bow of Heracles?

PHILOCTETES

Question 12

Which Trojan king received his name when his sister, Hesione, ransomed her bridal veil after his home city was sacked by a Greek hero?

Answer 12

PRIAM

B1: Which hero sacked Troy, because Priam’s father, Laomedon, refused to pay his promised price after the hero killed a sea monster threatening Troy?

HERACLES

B2: What was Priam’s name before his sister ransomed him?

PODARCES

Question 13

Chrysaor and Pegasus both sprang from the neck of what daughter of Phorcys and Ceto when she was decapitated by Perseus?

Answer 13

MEDUSA

B1: What Titan, who held up the heavens, did Perseus turn into stone with the head of Medusa?

ATLAS

B2: How did Perseus kill his grandfather Acrisius?

HIT HIM BY ACCIDENT WITH A DISCUS

Question 14

Who repopulated the earth by throwing the bones of their mother over their shoulders?

Answer 14

DEUCALION and PYRRHA

B1: What goddess gave them this prophecy?

THEMIS

B2: What were the bones of Deucalion and Pyrrha’s mother

STONES

Question 15

What son of Zeus and Pluto was punished in the Underworld with eternal hunger and thirst, although he was unable to reach the fruit and water around him?

Answer 15

TANTALUS

B1: Who was Tantalus’ son who had an ivory shoulder because it was eaten by a goddess?

PELOPS

B2: What goddess ate Tantalus’ shoulder?

DEMETER

Question 16

What Roman goddess was symbolized by the cuckoo and the peacock?

Answer 16

JUNO

B1: Hera decorated the tail of the peacock with the eyes of what watchman after he was killed by Hermes?

ARGUS (PANOPTES)

B2: Who had Argus been guarding when Hermes killed him?

IO

Question 17

Who forgot to change sails from black to white, leading his father to kill himself from grief?

Answer 17

THESEUS

B1: Who was Theseus’ father, the king of Athens?

AEGEUS

B2: According to some accounts, Theseus forgot to change the sails because his mind was preoccupied after abandoning what Cretan princess on Naxos?

ARIADNE

Question 18

Which Lydian king hosted Silenus and then returned him to Dionysus, receiving the golden touch in return?

Answer 18

MIDAS

B1: Which god gave Midas donkey ears due to Midas’ poor taste in music?

APOLLO

B2: Which god’s music did Midas think was better than Apollo’s?

PAN(‘S)