Chapter 9: Aphrodite, Artemis And Athena

Question 1

What does Hestia’s name mean?

Answer 1

Hearth

Question 2

Who are the vestal virgins?

Answer 2

Worshippers of Hestia, they tend to a fire which must never go out

Question 3

What are two important places associated with Aphrodite?

Answer 3

Cyprus and Cytherea

Question 4

What was a striking feature of the worship of Aphrodite?

Answer 4

Temple prostitution

Question 5

Who wrote a poem about Aphrodite?

Answer 5

Sappho

Question 6

What was the name of the child born out of the union between Hermes and Aphrodite?

Answer 6

Hermaphroditus

Question 7

Who fell in love with Hermaphroditus?

Answer 7

The nymph Salmacis

Question 8

What happened to Salmacis and Hermaphroditus?

Answer 8

They were fused into one being, with a woman’s breasts but a man’s genitals

Question 9

Who is Priapus?

Answer 9

Son of Aphrodite and either Hermes or Dionysus. He had an enormous erect phallus that warned off the evil eye

Question 10

Who was Pygmalion?

Answer 10

He was the king of Cyprus and fell in love with a statue that he had created. The statue was later brought to life

Question 11

What was the name of the statue that Pygmalion fell in love with?

Answer 11

Galatea

Question 12

What was the name of the child of Galatea?

Answer 12

Paphos

Question 13

What happened to Cinyras?

Answer 13

His wife claimed that their daughter Myrrha was more beautiful than Aphrodite. She punished them by making Myrrha fall in love with Cinyras and they slept together.

Question 14

What happened to Myrrha?

Answer 14

After she slept with her father he tried to kill her but she was turned into a Myrrh tree.

Question 15

What emerged from the Myrrh tree?

Answer 15

The beautiful hero Adonis, whom Aphrodite instantly fell in love with

Question 16

How did Adonis die?

Answer 16

He was gorged by a boar and died of blood loss

Question 17

What grew from the blood of Adonis?

Answer 17

The blood red anemone

Question 18

What did the women do in the cult of Adonis?

Answer 18

They would sow seeds of quickly germinating plants (lettuce, wheat and barley) in shallow baskets or bowls and after 8 days they would throw the plants into the ocean or stream

Question 19

Who did Zeus make Aphrodite fall in love with?

Answer 19

Anchises

Question 20

Who was the son of Anchises and Aphrodite?

Answer 20

Aeneas

Question 21

What does Homer call Artemis?

Answer 21

Potnia Theron (Mistress of Animals)

Question 22

What happened to Niobe?

Answer 22

She boasted of her superiority to Leto for she had six sons and six daughters. Artemis and Apollo killed them all in revenge

Question 23

Who was Orion?

Answer 23

He was a son of Poseidon, an inescapable hunter and a devotee of Artemis. He had the power to walk on water

Question 24

What happened to Orion after he raped Oenopion?

Answer 24

She blinded him while he slept

Question 25

What did Artemis do to Orion?

Answer 25

She put a scorpion on his head which poisoned and killed him. The scorpion was then changed into a constellation as was Orion

Question 26

Who was Actaeon and what did he do?

Answer 26

Actaeon was a hunter and accidentally came across Artemis while she was bathing naked in a spring. In retaliation she turned him into a deer and he was killed by his own hounds

Question 27

Who was Callisto and what happened to her?

Answer 27

She was one of Artemis’ favourite followers and a nymph. She was raped by Zeus and was changed into a bear by Artemis. Artemis later shot and killed the bear. Hermes rescued her child and he was named Arcas

Question 28

What is the emblem of Athena?

Answer 28

The owl and an olive branch

Question 29

What is the common epithet of Athena?

Answer 29

Glaukopis (owl-eyed/grey-eyed)

Question 30

What was the name of the ship that she helped direct Jason to build?

Answer 30

The Argo

Question 31

What was the name of the horse that Poseidon sired on Demeter?

Answer 31

Arion

Question 32

What is the name of the festival that celebrates Athena?

Answer 32

The Panathenaea