N Is For Nestor Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nike

Nike was the winged goddess of victory.

According to Hesiod's "Theogony", Nike was the daughter of Styx. Nike and her brothers Zelos (zeal) and Kratos (strength) and her sister Bia (force) were recruited by Zeus to fight at his side in the Titanomachy - the struggle between the Titan gods and the Olympian gods. Nike acted as Zeus' charioteer.

Other sources cite Nike as an attribute of the goddess Athena, in so far as Nike was (according to those sources) one of the main aspects of Athena, and some temples have been discovered dedicated to Athena Nike.

As Nike symbolizes victory in art, athletics, and war, it was only a matter of time before a major manufacturer of sporting equipment chose the brand name Nike. The American company founded as Blue Ribbon chose Nike as its brand name, and its logo (the swoosh) is an over-simplified version of the batting wings of the goddess Nike.

Answer: Nemean Lion

When Heracles, in a fit of madness, killed his first wife Megara and their children, he was ordered to complete ten years of service to his nephew Eurystheus. Eurystheus would set him each year some impossible task. As Heracles was aided and abetted by his relatives on two occasions, Eurystheus gave him two other tasks - and the full dozen is nowadays known as "the Twelve Labours of Heracles".

The first task for Heracles was to kill the Nemean lion - a large lion with impenetrable fur. Heracles at first shot a few arrows at the lion, but they bounced off the lion's body. Then Heracles trapped the lion in a cave and strangled it with his bare hands. As a reward, Heracles took the lion's fur for a cape.

Answer: Nyx

Nyx (literally meaning night) was the daughter of Chaos. She married Erebus (Darkness) and had two children with him: Aether (Light) and Hemera (Day).

But without her husband she also conceived several other deities, many of them associated with negative connotations: Eris (discord), Thanatos (death), Oizys (pain) and Moros (doom).

Answer: Neoptolemos

In the "Iliad" by Homer, a young Achilles was one of the main warriors in the Greek army. And yet he was accompanied by his son Neoptolemos.

According to other sources, Achilles was dressed up as a girl and hidden in the household of the King of Skyros, among the princesses. Here Achilles met princess Deidamia, and they had two sons together: Neoptolemos and Oneiros. Odysseus came to Skyros and tricked Achilles into taking up arms, and thus Achilles went to war - which caused great grief for his mother Thetis, to whom it had been prophesied that if Achilles went to war, he would surely die.

During the ten years of the Trojan war, Neoptolemos killed several Trojans. And as soon as Troy was taken, Neoptolemos killed the Trojan king Priam and captured Andromache, Hector's wife.

Shortly after having offspring with the captive Andromache, Neoptolemos was killed - either by Orestes, Agamemnon's son who had married Neoptolemos' betrothed Hermione, or by a priest of the oracle at Delphi. 

Answer: Nymphe

The Horae was a group of minor deities associated with time. Several groups of Horae have been advanced by several ancient Greek authors. This question draws only on the "Dionysiaca" by Nonnus of Panopolis, a Greek poet who lived in the 5th Century AD.

Daytime was divided into twelve hours, and each hour was dedicated to a certain minor goddess and sometimes an associated activity. The fifth hour, so just before noon, was dedicated to Nymphe - the goddess associated with all activities involving water: bathing, laundry, doing the dishes, swimming...

The full set of the Horae was: Auge (first light), Anatolia (sunrise), Mousike (music), Gymnastike (sports), Nymphe, Mesembria (noon and a meal), Sponde (libations after lunch), Elete (prayer), Akte (amusement), Hesperis (evening), Dysis (sunset) and Arctis (twilight before nightfall).

Answer: Nessus

Nessus was a centaur who lived near the river Euenos, a strong flowing river. Anyone who would try to cross the river risked drowning. So Nessus made a living by carrying travellers on his back to the other side of the river.

One day Heracles and his wife Deianira came to the river Euenos. Nessus took Deianira on his back to cross the river, but halfway he was overwhelmed with passion and tried to seduce Deianira. Heracles witnessed this episode and shot Nessus with a poisoned arrow.

The dying Nessus persuaded Deianira to fill a jar with his blood, saying it would act as a very efficient love potion, in case Heracles would ever be tempted by other women. Deianira then used Nessus' poisoned blood to dye one of Heracles' coats. Alas, it was not a love potion but a strong poison, burning Heracles to death.

Answer: Nausicaa

In Homer's "Odysseia", the eponymous hero tried for ten years to get home to his palace on Ithaca and his faithful wife Penelope. But Odysseus and his crew had many adversities, because Odysseus had angered the god Poseidon.

On one occasion Odysseus was shipwrecked and landed on the shore of the island Scheria, wounded and nude. Nausicaa and her servant girls came to do the laundry near the bush where Odysseus slept, and played ball while waiting for the laundry to dry. When Odysseus came out to investigate the noise, the servant girls fled, but Nausicaa stayed and welcomed the stranger.

She offered him some of the garments and sent him to the palace to confer with her parents, king Alcinous and queen Arete. The episode ended with Alcinous granting Odysseus another ship to sail home.

Some sources also mention that later on Nausicaa would marry Odysseus' son Telemachus.

Answer: Nereus

Nereus was the eldest son of Gaia (goddess of the earth) and Pontus (god of the Black Sea). In this genealogy was something quite peculiar: Pontus was not only Gaia's husband, but also her son - and thus Nereus' half-brother.

Homer mentioned "the old man of the sea" (no, not Santiago in Hemingway's book), who probably is none other than Nereus. But Nereus himself did not do anything unusual, except that he was known for never having told a lie. (No, Nereus was not a precursor to George Washington).

Nereus was the father of fifty daughters, the Nereids, all associated in some way with seas and rivers. The best-known daughters of Nereus were Thetis, mother to Achilles, and Amphitrite who was Poseidon's wife.

In some sources Nereus could be equated to Poseidon. If we combine these sources with the story about Amphitrite, Nereus would have married his own daughter.

Answer: Nemesis

Nemesis was sometimes also called Rhamnousia. She acted against people who exceeded the norm (showed hybris: excessive pride).

The best known victim of Nemesis is Narcissus, who pined away when admiring his mirror image in a pool. (Some versions claim Narcissus drowned in this pool.)

Less known is Nikaia, a nymph and follower of the virgin hunter goddess Artemis. Alas, Nikaia fell in love with a shepherd. But they quarreled and Nikaia shot her shepherd through his heart. Dionysus (the god of wine) came to console her with strong liquor, and had his way with her when she passed out. A child was born out of this one-night stand, and Nikaia then committed suicide by hanging.

Bellerophon could also be interpreted as a victim of Nemesis: after slaying the monstrous Chimera, Bellerophon thought he would belong with the Olympian gods and thus flew on Pegasus upwards - until a gadfly stung the winged horse and Bellerophon fell to earth.

In present-day English a nemesis is no longer a divine creature, but a (mortal) archenemy.

Answer: Nestor

Nestor was the king of Pylos. According to one myth, he had already lived three generations when he joined the Greeks in the Trojan War.

During the Trojan War Nestor did not participate in many fights, probably due to his advanced age. But at various occasions Nestor offered the younger warriors his advice in long rhetoric speeches. Nestor did drive his own chariot, and was seen during the war carrying a shield of solid gold.

After Troy was destroyed, Nestor returned safely to his home. There he welcomed Telemachus, who travelled all around Greece seeking to hear news about his father Odysseus.