The Beginning: Part Two – Clash of the Titans

Question 1

What was the name of the battle between the Gods and the Titans?

Answer 1

The Titanomachy

Question 2

In the Titanomachy, all the Titans sided with Kronos, except?

Answer 2

Clymene’s sons Prometheus and Epimetheus

Question 3

The Gods were outmatched in the Titanomachy. How did Zeus swing the balance?

Answer 3

He released (on Metis’s advice), the Hecatonchires and Cyclopes from the caverns of Tartarus. Gigantes also joined Zeus.

Question 4

Where did Zeus get his thunderbolts?

Answer 4

They were crafted for him by the Cyclopes –Brontes (thunder), Arges (brightness) and Steropes (lightning).

Question 5

Who were the parents of the muses?

Answer 5

Zeus and Mnemosyne (titan, daughter of Ouranos and Gaia)

Question 6

Who is Calliope?

Answer 6

Chief of all muses (according to Ovid)

Music of epic poetry

Name means beautiful voice

Gave birth to Orpheus

Virgil and Dante invoke her when embarking on epics

Question 7

Who is Clio?

Answer 7

Muse of history

Responsible for broadcasting great deeds

Symbols: Often depicted with book.

Question 8

Who is Erato?

Answer 8

Muse of lyric and love poetry

Name related to Eros and often depicted with arrow

Symbols: myrtle, turtle doves, lute

Question 9

Who is Euterpe?

Answer 9

Muse of music

Question 10

Who is Melpomene?

Answer 10

Muse of tragedy

Symbols: depicted wearing or holding the cothurnus, a thick-soled boot worn by tragic actors; tragic mask with curved-down lips

Along with her sister Terpsichore, was mother to the Sirens

Question 11

Who is Polyhymnia?

Answer 11

Muse of hymns (hymnos is Greek for praise) and sacred music

Also muse of agriculture, pantomime, geometry and meditation

Symbols: portrayed as serious figure, finger held to mouth in attitude of contemplation

Also sometimes (instead of Calliope) portrayed as mother of Orpheus

Question 12

Who is Terpsichore?

Answer 12

Muse of dance

Question 13

Who is Thalia?

Answer 13

The muse of comic arts and idyllic poetry

Symbols: wears the cothurnus (actors’ boot) and smiling mask; wreathed in ivy and carries bugle and trumpet

Question 14

Who is Urania?

Answer 14

Muse of astronomy and the stars

Derives name from Ouranos, primal god of the heavens

Considered figure of Universal Love, like Greek version of Paraclete (Christian holy spirit)

Question 15

Who were the three daughters of Zeus and Eurynome (the most beautiful of the Oceanids)?

Answer 15

The Charites (the Gratia to the Romans)

Aglaea (splendour)
Euphrosyne, also known as Euthymia (glee)
Thalia (cheerfulness)

Question 16

Whose children were the Horai (hours)?

Answer 16

Themis (daughter of Ouranos and Gaia)

Question 17

Themis is the goddess and personification of…

Answer 17

Justice, divine order, law, and custom.

Question 18

Name the classical first triad of the Horae?

Answer 18

Auxesia - Summer
Carpo - Winter
Thallo - bringer of flowers and blossoms (Flora to Romans)

Question 19

Name the second set of Horae

Answer 19

Eunomia - goddess of law and legislation
Diké - goddess of justice and the moral order (Romans called Justitia)
Eirene - goddess of peace (Pax to Romans)

Question 20

What are the names of the three Moirai (Fates) and what do they do?

Answer 20

Clotho – spins the thread that represents a life
Lachesis (LAKH-uh-sis) – measures out its length
Atropos (uh-TROH-pohs) – cuts the life short

Question 21

Who gave birth to the Moirai (Fates)

Answer 21

Nyx –night

Question 22

Who are the Keres?

Answer 22

Daughters of Nyx

Spirits of violent death. Like the Valkyries, collected souls of warriors killed in battle. Only, suck blood and then throw drained corpse over shoulder and moved on to next.

Question 23

Who are the Gorgons?

Answer 23

Daughters of Phorcys and Ceto (children of Gaia and Pontus)

Stheno
Euryale
Medusa

Hair of venomous snakes
Boar’s tusk teeth
Clawed hands
Scaly golden bodies

Turn to stone if catch a Gorgon’s eye.

Question 24

What are the 5 classifications of nymphs?

Answer 24

Oreads –from mountains hills and grottoes
Nereids –in the sea
Naiads –Lakes and streams
Dryads – wingedforest nymphs
Hamadryads –nymphs whose lives were tied to tree in which they lived

Question 25

What is key difference between nymphs and gods?

Answer 25

Gods are immortal, nymphs can die

Question 26

Who was Zeus’s fiercest opponent in the Titanomachy?

Answer 26

Atlas (first son of Iapetus and Clymene)

Question 27

How was Atlas punished for opposing Zeus?

Answer 27

Forced to carry the sky on his shoulders
He solidified into the Atlas Mountains

Question 28

How was Kronos punished?

Answer 28

Forced to travel the world measuring out eternity.

Called Saturn by Romans.

Symbols: old man with scythe

Question 29

How were the Cyclopes and Hecatonchires rewarded for helping Zeus conquer the titans?

Answer 29

Cyclopes –for making Zeus’s thunderbolt, appointed his personal artificers, armourers and smiths

Hecatonchires –made guardians of the gates to Tartarus

Question 30

Etymology of Auxesia?

Answer 30

Auxesis means “increase” or “growth.”

Question 31

The Moirai were often depicted as three sisters, each with a specific role: Clotho, who _______________; Lachesis, who ___________; and Atropos, who _____________.

Answer 31

The Moirai were often depicted as three sisters, each with a specific role: Clotho, who spun the thread of life; Lachesis, who measured the thread; and Atropos, who cut the thread, determining the moment of death.

Question 32

Etymology of Keres?

Answer 32

Related to the Greek word “ker” (κῆρ), which means “death” or “doom.”

Question 33

Who were Phorcys and Ceto?

Answer 33

Sea gods, son and daughter of Gaia and Pontus.

In Hellenistic-Roman mosaics, Phorcys was depicted as a fish-tailed merman with crab-claw legs and red, spiky skin.

Father and mother of the Gorgons.

Question 34

This is one of the _______?

Answer 34

Keres

Question 35

Where do Oreads dwell?

Answer 35

In mountains, hills and grottoes

Question 36

Where do Nereids dwell?

Answer 36

In the sea

Question 37

Where do Naiads dwell?

Answer 37

Lakes and streams

Question 38

Where do Dryads dwell?

Answer 38

Wingedforest nymphs. In the forest.

Question 39

Where do Hamadryads dwell?

Answer 39

Are tied to tree (usually oak) in which they live. Dryas means oak tree.

Question 40

Atlas was the eldest son of whom?

Answer 40

Iapetus and Clymene

Question 41

How was Atlas punished for his leading role against Zeus in the Titanomachy?

Answer 41

He was sentenced to hold up the sky for eternity. (Depictions of his holding up the world come later).

Question 42

What places are named after Atlas?

Answer 42

The Atlas Mountains of North Africa and the Atlantic Ocean (which got its name from its proximity to the Atlas Mountains). And Atlantis.