Mythology Quiz

What sort of contest does Oenomaüs arrange for the hand of his daughter Hippodamia?

A duel to the death with Oenomaüs himself

What is Paris' other name, given to him after he single-handedly defeats a band of robbers?

Alexander

Which of the following are members of Hector's family?

Astyanax Andromache

Aegisthus is actually the son of

Atreus and Pelopia

Ajax the Lesser

Attempted to rape Cassandra in Troy

Agamemnon seizes _______ from Achilles, prompting Achilles to sit out the war

Briseis

Atreus

Brother of Thyestes

How did Thetis try to prevent Achilles from joining the Trojan War?

By hiding him among women on the island of Scyros

Aegisthus

Clytemnestra's lover

Ajax the Greater

Comitted suicide

After defiling the body of Hector for days, Achilles is finally persuaded to give the body back to Hector's father Priam by the god Hermes, who comes to him in a dream.

False

After the Embassy to Achilles, which offers Agamemnon's apology and promises of great rewards, Achilles is once again ready to return to the battle.

False

Agamemnon persuades Achilles to join the battle at Troy.

False

Agamemnon's appropriation of Achilles's war prize starts the wrath of Achilles that moves the Iliad along. Achilles's war prize is the girl Chryseïs

False

Aphrodite offers Paris marriage to Psyche if he will declare her the winner of the beauty contest.

False

In a sense, all the battle narratives of the Iliad have been leading up to the final confrontation between Achilles and Hector. When it comes, the battle is long, glorious, and hard fought, which Achilles just barely manages to win in the end.

False

Menelaus was the author of the Oath of Tyndareus

False

The Argives found Troy on the first attempt, even though nobody knew where it was.

False

The man being described in this passage is Menelaüs: "People would say he was tongue-tied, or maybe exceedingly stupid; you would think him dull and slow, or even a half-witted idiot. But - when out of his throat a thunderous voice came resounding, and words poured out like snow, blown by a blizzard in winter - then no man on this earth dared argue against such a speaker."

False

The name of the Greeks' prophet at Troy was Tiresias.

False

What does Hector do when he sees Achilles coming after him? Correct Answer

He turns and runs three times around the walls of Troy before making his stand

Who kills Patroclus?

Hector

Menelaüs

Helen's legal husband

Leda, wife of the king of Sparta, has sexual intercourse with Zeus while he's disguised as a swan, and produces four famous children. Which of these is NOT one of them?

Hermione

Why was Oenomaüs unbeatable in the race he demanded of suitors for his daughter?

His horses, gifts from Poseidon, never became tired.

The kings who led the Greek expedition to Troy came from the

House of Atreus

Odysseus

Husband of Penelope

In order to save the expedition to Troy, Agamemnon had to sacrifice__ ?

Iphigenia

What does the name of the land Peloponnesus mean?

Island of Pelops"

Leda

Mother of Helen of Troy and 3 others

Pelops

Named the southern peninsula of Greece

Who was the author of the "Oath of Tyndareüs?

Odysseus

Who exposes the deception of Odysseus when Odysseus is trying to avoid going to fight in the Trojan War?

Palamedes

Which Greek hero was bitten by a snake and then abandoned on the island of Lemnos?

Philoctetes

Who carried the bow of Heracles, without the aid of which Troy could not fall?

Philoctetes

Who travels into the Greek camp to ransom Hector's body?

Priam

When Thyestes goes to the oracle at Delphi to find out how to settle the score with Atreus, what does he learn?

That he must beget a child by his daughter Pelopia (

After the banquet Tantalus served to the gods, his son Pelops was reconstituted from the stew, but was missing a shoulder, which Demeter had accidentally eaten

True

Agamemnon refused to return, Briseis, the daughter of Apollo's priest, to her father

True

Artemis pinned the Greek fleet down in Aulis with a contrary wind because she was angry with Agamemnon

True

Hector is the Trojan who kills Patroclus, Achilles's friend, and strips off the armor

True

Iphigenia is the name of Agamemnon's daughter who must be sacrificed at Aulis to appease Artemis

True

The speaker of this line is Hector: "But this too I know full well, down deep in my heart and my spirit: the day will certainly come when holy Ilium shall perish, and Priam of the stout ashwood spear, and all the people of Priam."

True

The warrior whom the Greeks leave on the island of Lemnos is Philoctetes

True

Why was Peleus married to the sea nymph, Thetis?

Zeus wished to prevent her from having a son greater than he.

The Myrmidons were created when Zeus turned the _______ of Aegina into people.

ants

Which three goddesses appear before Paris in the Judgment of Paris?

hera Athena

Which of the following are true of the Dioscuri, Castor and Polydeuces?

not Castor killed Polydeuces in a hunting accident

The lliad begins when the priest Chryses comes to the Greek camp to

ransom his daughter

Pelops's two sons are summoned to Mycenae, because

the Mycenaeans wanted one of them to be their king

The Iliad is formally the story of _______.

the anger of Achilles

The goddess who was not a guest at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis was Eris

true

Achilles had a choice between

ying young in glory or living long with no fame