A Father Feasted. . . Trivia Quiz

Answer: Zeus

Tantalus was the son of the almighty Zeus and the nymph Plouto. It is unknown why Tantalus scorned the gods. Perhaps he wanted to test their omniscience. Maybe he was trying to outdo them by throwing his own banquet and serving the rarest delicacy - his own son.

This, however, was not the only crime of Tantalus. Known and accepted by the gods, he frequently heard information that should not be passed on to anyone else. In addition, he was favored by being able to eat nectar and ambrosia, the food of the gods, which made him immortal.

Not only did he spread tales that he heard, he also shared the secret of immortality. For these crimes Zeus cast Tantalus into the underworld and condemned him to eternal hunger and thirst. In addition, the sins of the father were passed on to the children.

Answer: Shoulder

It is said that Demeter, upset and distracted by the incident involving her daughter, Persephone, inadvertently tasted the food. The gods reassembled Pelops' body, but Hephaestus had to make a shoulder out of ivory. Poseidon took the boy to Mt. Olympus and made him his apprentice.

He even taught Pelops how to drive the divine chariot. It was not an action of Pelops, but his father, that caused him to be eventually thrown out of Olympus. Afterwards, Pelops was no longer bothered by the family curse.

He won the Princess Hippodamia as his wife, and lived happily ever after.

Answer: Leto

Niobe had everything going for her. She had a happy marriage to a son of Zeus and fine musician, Amphion, and together they ruled Thebes. She had seven handsome sons and seven beautiful daughters. Her mistake was in criticizing Leto because she only had two children, and encouraging people to worship her instead.

The omnipotent gods heard her boast, of course. Apollo and Artemis came to Thebes and used their archery skills to shoot down all the sons and daughters. Niobe, in her grief, was turned to a stone that was forever wet with her tears.

Answer: Atreus

Pelops and Hippodamia had twin sons, Thyestes and Atreus. Thyestes not only fell in love with Atreus' wife, but he also caused her to be unfaithful to her husband. Atreus, enraged at his brother, killed his two children and boiled all the body parts except the hands and heads, which were used to taunt Thyestes. An oracle told Thyestes that if he had a child with his daughter, Pelopia, that child, Aegisthus, would avenge the deaths of his children and kill his brother, Atreus. And so the curse continued.

Answer: Menelaus

Atreus had two sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus, and they married daughters of King Tyndareus of Sparta. Although Menelaus had some rough years during the time of the Trojan War fighting to retrieve his wife, when the war was over and they finally made it home, Menelaus and Helen lived happily together ever after.

Answer: Argos

Greek myths state that Agamemnon was the king of Mycenae, or Argos, the most powerful Greek kingdom at the time. Together with his wife he had one son and three daughters. The war in Troy was just the beginning of his problems - or was it?

Answer: He hoped the sacrifice would cause the wind to blow.

After killing a pregnant hare, the Greek army was punished by Artemis, who purposefully kept the wind from blowing. Restless and in a hurry to sail to Troy, however, without a good, steady wind, the army was grounded. The Greeks could win back the favor of the goddess with the sacrifice of a young girl. Iphigenia seemed willing to allow the sacrifice, eager to help her father and happy the Greeks would then be able to sail to Troy to save Helen. Later myths claim that Artemis would not have demanded human sacrifice and claim a different ending for the girl.

Some sources suggest that Agamemnon did not really have to sacrifice his daughter to make the wind blow, but that his decision was part of the evil that hung over his family.

Answer: Clytemnestra

As soon as Agamemnon left, Clytemnestra took a lover - none other than Aegisthus, the son of the incestuous relationship between Pelops and his daughter, and Agamemnon's cousin. Together they plotted Agamemnon's demise. Why? Was it just the sacrifice of Iphigenia? Was Clytemnestra still angry that Agamemnon had killed her first husband and their infant son? Was she angry that she was forced to marry him? Was Aegisthus wanting to take revenge on his father's betrayal by Agamemnon's father? By the time Agamemnon returned home from the war (and his ship was the only one not wrecked by storm or driven to distant countries) the two lovers had worked up a terrible hatred.

Some versions of the story claim Aegisthus as the murderer; others say it was Clytemnestra or that the murder was committed together.

Answer: Cassandra

Cassandra was given the gift of prophecy, but having been cursed by Apollo, was never believed. Agamemnon might have been a bit obtuse when he brought his mistress home with him, but he made the situation even more awkward when he asked Clytemnestra to "see to her and treat her well".

It is not known if Clytemnestra swung the axe that killed Agamemnon harder out of jealousy, but Cassandra was killed that night too. Having seen the vision of their deaths, Cassandra was powerless to do anything.

Some sources say that together Agamemnon and Cassandra had twin sons, who were also killed.

Answer: False

According to the ancient Greek code of justice, murder cried for revenge. Agamemnon killed Iphigenia, and this murder was avenged by Clytemnestra. Who would seek vengeance on Clytemnestra? Why, her son Orestes! If he had not sought revenge on his father's death, the gods would bring (if you can believe it!) even more terrible heartache to his family. Orestes killed his mother and her lover, ending the fearful curse on the House of Atreus - eventually. According to the story, Orestes had to be punished for the murder of his mother and her lover, and was pursued by the Erinyes, or Furies, whose job it was to enforce the rules of family justice. Pleading to the statue of Athena for protection from these fierce creatures, Orestes gained her help and was cleansed of all personal and family guilt.