The Titanic Family Trivia Game | Greek Myth

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The Titan Oceanus was known in classical Greece as having several thousand children, mainly because he is considered the father of all of which of the following?

Answer: Rivers

The name Oceanus may have been a hint that the answer had a watery link. Oceanus was known as the 'father of rivers' and his wife/sister Tethys the mother of rivers. Not just some rivers but all rivers, the list of their children includes a list of all rivers in the known world.

2. The youngest of the children of Uranus and Gaia was Tethys. Where would you find Tethys Ocean?

Answer: Pre-historic Earth

The Tethys Ocean is a name given to an ocean created following the break up of Pangea into the continents of Laurasia and Gondwana. If you don't remember this, fear not, you have a good excuse, as it did happen some 200 million years ago, so (almost certainly) before you were born.

Greece (both ancient and modern versions) borders the Mediterranean Sea while Mount Olympus in Greece is the traditional home of the gods. One of the moons of Saturn is named Tethys but none of these contain the Tethys Ocean.

3. In Greek mythology the Titan Hyperion is known as the father of three of the following. Which one is not traditionally one of his offspring?

Answer: Dusk

Hyperion and his wife/sister are considered the parents of the sun, the moon and dawn, Helios, Selene and Eos respectively. Dusk does not appear to have been a concept personified in Greek mythology.

4. Modern astronomy has a theory that the moon was created by the collision of the earth with another large planet. This hypothetical planet has appropriately been given the name of the Titaness who was known as the 'mother of the moon', so which of the following is it?

Answer: Theia

Theia is the only female Titan listed; the other three are her nephews, children of her brother Crius. Theia also has an insect species named after her, although not directly. Some books and writings of Greek mythology use Euryphaessa as another name for Theia, and there is a species of leafhopper in Australia named Euryphaessa. I suspect that it is not the name commonly used by the locals, though.

5. Appropriately for a quiz about Titans, which Titan is held to represent the inquiring mind?

Answer: Coeus

Polus is the nearest Roman equivalent to Coeus. Asteria is the name of several characters throughout classical mythology, one of which is the daughter of Coeus.
Asteria is also a character in the opera 'Telemaco' by Gluck, which is based on the Odyssey.

References to Coeus are few. His most noticeable achievement appears to be his grandchildren including Apollo and Artemis.

6. Also aptly for a quiz, which of the daughters of Uranus and Gaia has been represented as a goddess of intellect and prophecy?

Answer: Phoebe

Only one Titaness is listed and that is Phoebe. Iapetus is one of her brothers, while Atlas and Prometheus are his sons. Phoebe is also said to have been the originator of the Oracle at Delphi.

7. Which son of Uranus castrated his father at his mother's behest?

Answer: Cronus

Only one of the four options is a son of Uranus. The amputation was apparently carried out with a sickle, and hence the symbol of Cronus is a sickle. Maybe this has developed via the Roman equivalent Saturn into a harvest festival god.
The sickle does help confuse things with the god of time, Chronos, and his scythe.

8. Ancient history is full of examples of deities being adopted by and merged with faiths of other cultures. So it is with our next Titan. From the lands which are now part of Turkey came the goddess Cybele. One of her symbols is a pair of lions. Which Titaness is represented by a pair of lions?

Answer: Rhea

These two ancient gods may be the same. Even the historians of old cannot tell which came first. In Greek myth Rhea is the sister/wife of Cronus and the mother of Zeus, who in turn became king of the gods after overthrowing his father.
All of the answers are names of flightless birds but only one is a Titan.

9. The next Titaness is considered to represent law, divine law at that. In some places (such as Brisbane, Australia) she is displayed outside the law courts instead of the Roman goddess Justicia, the lady Justice. Who is this individual?

Answer: Themis

Justicia is not considered to be the Roman equivalent of Themis, since Justicia represented (Roman) civil law but Themis represented all law, especially the laws of the gods. A better comparison would be with Dike, the daughter of Themis.
The three wrong answers are the fates, which some sources list as children of Themis (and Zeus). Other sources say they attended the marriage; facts about mythological beings are rather hard to pin down.

10. Mnemosyne may be remembered as the mother of the muses. Which spring near Mount Olympus, and mentioned in the Alexander Pope's poem "An Essay on Criticism", was sacred to the muses?

Answer: Pierian Spring

Taking the answers in reverse order of distance from Mount Olympus, the Appalachians are in North America and the 'Appalachian Spring' is a piece of music by Aaron Copeland. The 'Spring of Juturna' is in Rome, near the Forum. The 'Castilian Spring' is situated at the site of the Oracle of Delphi. This leaves the Pierian Spring close to Mount Olympus. The spring is alleged to bestow knowledge on those that drink from it, and the Muses are said to have bathed in its waters soon after their birth.

The reference to Alexander Pope is his relatively well known quote, "A little learning is a dangerous thing". What is less well known is the next line of the poem, "Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring".

Source: Author paper_aero

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

The Titanic Family Trivia Quiz

No boats, icebergs or blockbuster movies. Just questions concerning the offspring of Uranus and Gaia, known as the Titans.

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