Mythology and Folklore

Question 1

When Oedipus answered its riddle, it killed itself

Answer 1

The sphinx 

The sphinx was a winged monster with the head of the woman and the body of a lion. It waylaid travelers on the roads, near the city of Thebes, and would kill any of them who could not answer this riddle: “what creatures walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three legs in the evening?” Oedipus finally gave the correct answer: human beings, who go on all fours as infants, walk upright, in maturity, and in old age rely on the “third leg” of a cane.

Question 2

A famous leader in the Trojan war on the Trojan side. After the fall of Troy, he fled with his father and son, and was shipwrecked at Carthage in northern Africa. There Dido, the queen of Carthage, fell in love with him, and ultimately committed suicide when she realize that he could not stay with her forever .

Answer 2

Aeneas

After many trials, Aeneas arrived in what is now Italy, the ancient Romans, believe that they were descended from the followers of Aeneas

Aeneas is the hero of the Aeneid of Virgil.

Because he carried his elderly father, out of ruined Troy on his back, Aeneas represents filial devotion and duty 

Question 3

Maori legend says the south island of this country is the canoe of the Polynesian demigod Maui

Answer 3

New Zealand 

Question 4

In classic mythology, the king, who led the Greeks against Troy in the Trojan war. To obtain favorable winds for the Greek fleet sailing to Troy, he sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to the goddess Artemis, and so came under a curse.

Answer 4

Agamemnon

After he returned home victorious, he was murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus

Question 5

In classical mythology, The food of the gods. Those who ate it became immortal

Answer 5

Ambrosia

Question 6

Daughter of king Oedipus, who buried her brother in accordance with religious obligation against the king’s orders. She was then condemned to death for her crime.

Answer 6

Antigone

Her two brothers killed each other in a single combat over the kings ship of their city. Although burial or cremation of the dead was a religious obligation among the Greeks, the king forbid the burial of one of the brothers, for he was considered a traitor. Antigone, torn between her religious and legal obligations, disobeyed the kings order and buried her brother.

The Greek playwright, Sophocles tells her story in Antigone, a place that deals with conflict between human laws and laws of the gods 

Question 7

In classic Greek mythology, the Apple of Discord was thrown by Eris into a party to which she was not invited. The apple was inscribed with the words ‘To the fairest’ and caused mayhem after these three goddesses claimed it.

Answer 7

Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite

The prince of Troy, Paris, was called upon to judge the most beautiful. Hera promised him land and riches, Athena victory in battle and Aphrodite the love of the most beautiful women in the world. In the end Paris chose Aphrodite, who told him of the beauty of Queen Helen of Sparta, with whom Paris later eloped, leading to the Trojan War and his own death. This beauty contest is called the Judgement of Paris

Question 8

In classical mythology, the companions of Jason in the quest for the Golden Fleece

Answer 8

The Argonauts

Their ship was the Argo. Naut means “sailor“ in Greek, and is the root of our word nautical. today the word is used to coin terms such as astronaut and aquanaut.

Jason was also assisted by the sorceress Madea, who fell in love with Jason, and helped him obtain the Golden Fleece. When Jason abandon her to marry another woman, she took revenge by brutally murdering his young bride, as well as the children she had borne him.

Jason was eventually killed when his old ship, the Argo, fell on him 

Question 9

A creature in CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY who had a hundred eyes. Hera set him to watch over Io, a girl who had been seduced by Zeus and then turned into a cow.

Answer 9

Argus

Hermes, working on Zeus’ behalf, played music that put all the eyes to sleep and then killed this creature. Hera put his eyes in the tail of the peacock.

Question 10

According to Irish legend, those who kiss this stone in the wall of a castle received a gift of eloquence that enables them to attain, through persuasion, anything they want 

Answer 10

The blarney stone.

A stone in the wall of blarney castle in Ireland.

People who talk “blarney“ are saying things they do not mean. usually the expression blarney is applied to flattery designed to gain a favor

Question 11

A fairy tale villain from the Charles Perrault collection who marries seven women and warns them not to look behind a certain door. Inside the room are the corpses of his former wives. He kills six wives before one passes his test.

Answer 11

Bluebeard

Charles Perrault laid the foundations for the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales, published in his 1697 book Histoires ou contes du temps passé (Stories or Tales from Past Times). The best known of his tales include “Le Petit Chaperon Rouge” (“Little Red Riding Hood”), “Cendrillon” (“Cinderella”), “Le Maître chat ou le Chat botté” (“Puss in Boots”), “La Belle au bois dormant” (“Sleeping Beauty”), and “Barbe Bleue” (“Bluebeard”).

Question 12

In classical mythology, a prophetess in Troy during the Trojan War, whose true predictions were never believed. Apollo had given her the gift of prophecy but made it worthless after she refused his advances.

Answer 12

Cassandra

The Greeks captured Cassandra after their victory and sacrilegiously removed her from the temple of Athena. As a result, Athena helped cause shipwrecks and enormous loss of life to the Greeks on their return home.

A “Cassandra” is someone who constantly predicts bad news.

Question 13

In classical mythology, a powerful sorceress who turned people into swine

Answer 13

Circe (SUR-see)

On the way home from Troy, the crew of Odysseus fell prey to her spells

Question 14

The Greek and Roman god who was worshipped at the Delphic oracle. His messages were relayed by a priestess who went into a trance and supposedly breathed vapors from a cleft in the rocks.

Answer 14

Apollo

It was also known and the oracle of Delphi.
These messages were often difficult to interpret.

Question 15

In Roman MYTHOLOGY, the founder and queen of Carthage in north AFRICA. She committed suicide in grief over the departure of her lover, the hero Aeneas.

Answer 15

Dido

 Dido is an image of the unhappy or unrequited lover.

Question 16

The Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon discovered Florida while looking for this

Answer 16

The Fountain of Youth

A fountain from folk tales that is capable of making people young

Question 17

A young knight in the tales of King Arthur. His exceptional purity and virtue enabled him to see the holy grail in all its splendor. Where as many other knights could not see it at all.

Answer 17

Sir Galahad

Question 18

In classical mythology, Helen of Troy was the daughter of Zeus and this woman

Answer 18

Leda

Leda was queen of Sparta and raped by Zeus who had taken the form of a swan

According to later Greek mythology, Leda bore Helen and Polydeuces, children of Zeus, while at the same time bearing Castor and Clytemnestra, children of her husband Tyndareus, the King of Sparta. According to many versions of the story, Zeus took the form of a swan and raped Leda on the same night she slept with her husband King Tyndareus. In some versions, she laid two eggs from which the children hatched.

Question 19

In classical mythology, the eldest daughter of Agamemnon, who was sacrificed to Artemis to obtain favorable winds for the Greek fleet sailing to Troy

Answer 19

Iphigenia (if-uh-juh-NEYE-uh)

Sister of Electra and Orestes. 

Question 20

The Roman god of doors and gateways and hence of beginnings

Answer 20

Janus

Janus was pictured with two faces looking in opposite directions, one young and one old. Consequently, a hypocritical person is often called “Janus-faced“

The month of January is named after Janus

Question 21

In classical mythology, the Labyrinth, which was a vast maze on the island of Crete, was designed by this great inventor

Answer 21

Daedalus

The king of Crete kept the Minotaur in it. Very few people ever escaped the Labyrinth. One was Theseus, the killer of the Minotaur. 

Question 22

In classical mythology, the name of the priest in Troy who warned against bringing the Trojan horse into the city.

“I am wary of Greeks, even when they are bringing gifts”

Answer 22

Laocoon (lay-OK-oh-on)

The god Poseidon, who favored the Greeks, then sent two enormous snakes after Laocoon. the creatures, coiled themselves around the priest, and his two sons, crushing them to death. 

Question 23

A river flowing through Hades. The souls of the dead were forced to drink of its waters, which made them forget what they have done, said, and suffered when they were alive.

Answer 23

Lethe (LEE-thee)

Question 24

March was named for this Roman god

Answer 24

Mars

Mars is the Roman name of Ares, the Greek and Roman god of war.

The fourth planet from the sun is named Mars possibly because its red color is reminiscent of blood 

Question 25

Roman god of sleep and dreams

Answer 25

Morpheus 

Question 26

Greek goddess of vengeance

Answer 26

Nemesis 

Question 27

Mountain in Greece. According to classical mythology, it was one of the mountains where the muses lived. The Delphic oracle was on one of its slopes.

Answer 27

Parnassus (pahr-NAS-uhs) 

Question 28

The wife of Odysseus in classical mythology

Answer 28

Penelope

Penelope remain true to her husband for the 10 years he’d been fighting in the Trojan war, and for the 10 years it took him to return from Troy (that journey is told in the Odyssey by Homer). While waiting, she was harassed by men who wanted to marry her. She promised to choose a suitor after she had finished weaving a shroud for her father-in-law, but every night she unraveled what she had woven during the day. After three years, her trick was discovered, but she still managed to put off suitors until Odysseus returned and killed them .

Question 29

The hero of classical mythology, who killed the Gorgon Medusa

Answer 29

Perseus

The god Hermes and the goddess Athena helped him by giving him winged shoes, a magical sword, and a polished shield. He swooped down on Medusa, used the shield as mirror and cut off her head without looking at it directly. Anyone who looked at a Gorgon turned to stone 

Question 30

Mythical Greek giant, who would capture travelers and tie them to an iron bed. If they were longer than the bed, he would hack off the limbs until they fit it. If they were too short, he would stretch them to the right size.

Answer 30

Procrustes (proh-KRUS-teez)

A “Procrustean“ method is one that relentlessly tries to shape a person, an argument or an idea to a predetermined pattern

Question 31

A god who served Poseidon, and could change his shape at will

Answer 31

Proteus 

Someone or some thing that easily takes on several different forms may be called “protean”

Question 32

After she performed many harsh tasks, set by Cupid’s mother, Venus, Jupiter made this woman immmortal, and she and Cupid were married. Her name is Greek for both “ soul” and “butterfly”

Answer 32

Psyche


Question 33

An ancient nature god and legendary ruler of the Toltec people of Mexico, is usually represented as a plumed (feathered) serpent 

Answer 33

Quetzalcoatl (ket-SAHL-koh-AHT-l)

Question 34

The Roman name, for the titan who fled from Mount Olympus after Zeus defeated the Titans. He settled in Italy, and establish a golden age in which all people were equal, and harvests were plentiful.

Answer 34

Saturn

Father of Zeus. Kronos is his Greek name.

Saturday is named after Saturn 

Question 35

In classical mythology, what was Scylla and Charybdis

Answer 35

Scylla was a horrible, six-headed monster, who lived on a rock on one side of a narrow strait. Charybdis was a whirl pool on the other side. When ships passed close to Scylla in order to avoid Charybdis, she would seize and devour their sailors. Aeneas, Jason and Odysseus all had to pass between Scylla and Charybdis. 

SIL-uh; kuh-RIB-dis

Question 36

The king of classical mythology, who is punishment for having offended the guards, was tortured with everlasting thirst and hunger in Hades

Answer 36

Tantalus

He stood up to his chin in water, but each time he went to quench his thirst, the water receded. There were boughs heavy with fruit over his head, but every time he reached to pluck them, the wind blew them out of reach.

Some thing is “tantalizing“ if it is desirable but unattainable 

Question 37

In classical mythology, a hero of Athens, who made war on the Amazons, subsequently marrying their queen “Hippolyta ”

Answer 37

Theseus

He also killed the Minotaur and Procrustes 

Question 38

In classical mythology, the blind prophet, who revealed the truth of the crimes of Oedipus

Answer 38

Tiresias (teye-REE-see-uhs)

According to the Roman poet, Ovid, Tiresias spent part of his life as a man and part of it as a woman, so he knew the act of love from both points of view. When asked by Jupiter and Juno who enjoyed sex more, he answered that women did. This enraged Juno, so she blinded Tiresias.

Question 39

The Greek and Roman god of the west wind considered the most pleasant of the winds

Answer 39

Zephyr 

Question 40

In Jewish folklore, before Eve, Adam was married to this she-demon

Answer 40

Lilith